Royal Redemption
by kyokasuigetsutotsuka
Summary: The Royal Family of Humanity had come to be known as a group of rich and ignorant scum that had no care for their people, and Prince Naruto wanted no part of that. The young heir to the throne wanted more in life than endless pleasure and luxury; he wanted to help his people and make their lives better. Watch as the young prince jump into a world of madness and chaos!
1. Wayward Prince

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 1**

* * *

The monarch of humanity had almost never been seen by anyone for the past fifty years, and they reside in a towering defensive castle deep inside the Sina Wall. The royal palace was the epicenter of human civilization, and will be the cradle of human intelligence if the worst were to happen. Since humans started to live within the walls, the best scholars of humanity would be called to the palace to preserve the knowledge of mankind, but the numbers have dwindled down in the past decades.

With the one hundred years of peace, mankind had been lulled into a false sense of security, and people started to believe that they would be able to live in their towering sanctuary forever. The fear of losing human knowledge and accomplishments had started to dim over time, and an inevitable complacency came into dominance.

The King and his royal subjects returned to their desired lives of luxury and bliss. They idle fret at the slowly degrading population outside of their walls, and the imminent threat the Titans posed for humanity. The most powerful men in humanity were drowning in senseless lust of countless women and delicious luxuries of their offerings, and couldn't care less about the potential mountainous amount of deaths that would result at any moment.

In the deepest and darkest abyss, there was a small and growing beacon of light that offered a hope for humanity. Prince Naruto, the heir apparent of the throne of humanity, was unlike the rest of his family. The royal name of Uzumaki offered the young boy power beyond everyone other person his age, and he intended to use it for the good of humanity.

"Section A…" muttered the twelve year old prince as he walked down a large and dark aisle with a lit lantern in his right hand. "The Art of War…"

Ever since Naruto was five years old, he had been spending the majority of his days blazing through the priceless collection of books in his family's possession. In the seven years, he had already read over half of the library. Unlike his two younger siblings, Naruto had no interest in diving into senseless pleasure their riches could provide, and unlike his Father, he had more passion in life than to fornicate with every woman in sight.

The boy knew that it will soon be his responsibility to watch over the remaining people in existence, and he intended to do it the right way. Naruto wanted to be ready for the imminent disaster of the walls being penetrated, so he had been studying warfare and battle tactics to get ready. The prince became very familiar with all sorts of list wisdom, and an expert in his own right regarding modern technology used against the Titans.

"Naruto-sama…" muttered a weak voice from behind the boy.

The light from the lantern revealed the prince's face, which was already considered to be quite handsome at his young age. His golden blond hair and sapphire blue eyes gave him an apt majestic aura as prince. It was deep into the night, so the boy was wearing a blue robe over a simple t-shirt and sweat pants, and he looked a little shocked at the sudden voice from behind.

Turning back, Naruto saw a frail old man looking at him with his exhausted eyes. "You scared me for a second there, Kosuke-ojisan!"

The old man sighed as he walked closer to the young prince. "You shouldn't sneak around in here to late at night; the guards might mistake you for a thief."

Naruto smiled and waved the man off. "It's alright, I was only coming back to return this book", said the boy as he place the Art of War back onto the large shelf. "And I need the latest issues of the civilian reports."

Civilian Reports were detailed explanations of every crime reported with the three walls, and Naruto was probable the only person who would bother to read them. It has become more of an old and outdated tradition to send reports up to the monarchs, but Naruto made sure the tradition would continue to live. The boy had changed since he started to read the reports five years ago; a new perception had been exposed to the prince, and he finally knew that the world was not only facing the Titans.

So dark was the con of man. Naruto had spent countless restless nights walking around his large personal quarters dwelling in extreme guilt. The blond felt horrible living in his palace while his people slaughtered each other for the slightest of personal benefits. The prince knew he could do something to change the world they live in, and he planned to. It may be naïve on his part, but he would rather risk his life than to live in ignorant bliss…

With the fake peace away from the Titans, people have been starting to succumb to their endless desires once again. In the reports, Naruto would see people killing each other for scraps of money, petty face, and women. The lowest of people would rob and kill others in order to keep their pathetic lives going, and family would be broken apart by the pettiest of thieves.

Kosuke gestured to a large stack of reports far down on the reception's counter that was too heavy for him to lift. "They just arrived today…it seems that the crime rate has gone up once again."

Naruto sighed as he walked over to the large pile of failures. "Guards!" ordered the prince as a legion of five marched into the library instantly. "Carry these to my personal quarters…"

"Hai Ōji-sama!" saluted the several guards in unison as they immediately started their newest task.

Kosuke walked up to his future leader as the guards walked away. "So this will be one of the last sets of reports you will go through for a while, huh?"

Naruto smiled and nodded as he leaned back against the reception counter. "I guess so…I'll be leaving in a couple of days!"

The young prince had been planning behind his Father's back to try to get out of the palace so he could see the world for himself, and his plan would be falling into action in two days' time. It wasn't hard for Naruto to initiate a plan behind the King's back, seeing how he ignored everything except for his harem; for all the King knew, his heir apparent was just spending most of his time studying and had no time to be summoned to him.

"Are you sure about this, Ōji-sama?" asked the old man worried. "The world outside of the wall of Sina is a very dangerous place."

Naruto smiled at the kind and wise old man and nodded. "Don't worry about me Kosuke-ojisan; no one will know who I really am and I know how to defend myself." It was extremely risky for the prince of humanity to be traveling alone in the world, but the old man knew that it would be best way for the boy to learn the world for himself.

"You are very strong and intelligent, Ōji-sama, but make sure to carry your medallion with you for emergencies." All three children of the King each possessed their own medallion; a delicately formed badge made out of 99.9% pure gold, and it marked royal status. Seeing the medallion would be equivalent of seeing the King himself, and could offer Naruto unlimited power over his people.

"I got it right here…" said the prince as he gestured to a necklace around his neck. Naruto yawned before turning away from the old man. "I'm going to turn in for the night, see you later Kosuke-ojisan."

Kosuke stared at the retreating back of the prince silently with a worried expression. _'He is going to be the hope of humanity…'_

* * *

Dallis Zacklay, the head of all three divisions of the Military: the Scouting Legion, the Stationary Guard, and the Military Police, was bowing down for the prince in front of him. As a man that had been in the military his whole life, he had come to be quite familiar with the royal family, but he would only be glad to bow to one person.

In the man's opinion, there was only one person that had gained his respect, and that was Prince Naruto. The boy was remarkable in the General's eyes; not only was he a very talented strategist and intelligent scholar, he was also the only person who refused to live in a dream-like peace. The prince had long since convinced himself that the Titans will one day break into their domain. Instead of dwelling in fear or locking himself within the Sina Wall, Naruto had thrived to train himself to be ready for the imminent threat, and he asked Dallis to help him.

It has been three years since Naruto had been training under the General, he had finally been deemed ready to travel the outside world on his own. The General himself had been very concerned about the heir apparent of humanity traveling beyond the palace alone, but he had come to accept that it was something that Naruto had to do. Dallis was also quite confident about Naruto's combat skills, which would already be good enough to graduate from the training academy as a top student.

"Two minutes left!" cried the old man loudly.

The sound of a person flying across the training area on a 3D maneuvering system could be heard as the General looked up. The training field was built inside the palace's largest dungeon, and had trees and boulders moved into it for realistic value. Currently, the prince was zipping through multiple trees with his personal blades in his hands. Many mock Titans were placed throughout the field, and it was the prince's task to slice through the back of their necks before the time limit.

The training field was designed by a team of the best engineers available to the kingdom, and personally articulated by the General himself. The mock Titans would be connected to several large wheels on the ground, and would move at similar speed a real Titan would. Throughout the years the prince had been training with these simulations, and he had been getting better and better with each passing day. At the start, the General gave Naruto half an hour to destroy 10 targets, and now he only had five minutes to destroy twenty.

_'I only need another thirty seconds...'_

Naruto shot his slingshot at a tree 30 meters away from him and activated the maneuvering system. The gas propelled the blond towards his intended target as he leveled his weight lower. The prince's body sunk closer to the ground as he increased the gas' release. The blond was whipped into the air as he flung himself from the tree; up to fifty feet into the air. Naruto allowed himself to reach the limit of his maneuvering system and started to fall towards the last mock Titan on the field.

It was a modeled 15 meter Titan, and it was steadily moving towards the prince's position...

Naruto spun his body in mid-air to increase his descending power, and he slashed his blade out just as the Titan was about to pass him.

Dallis smirked as he pressed a button on the wall behind him, which made the Titan suddenly move twice as fast as before...

The prince grunted as his attack completely missed his intended target, but quickly recovered. Using his spinning momentum, Naruto released one of his blades and let it spin around in mid-air. When his leg was in the correct position, he kicked the blade right at the hilt and sent it blasting towards the back of the Titan's neck. The blade hit straight on the intended target, but it was not deep enough to cause a real Titan death.

Using a split-second to realize his position in mid-air and the position of his blade, Naruto shot another slingshot at the back of the Titan's head, and immediately pulled himself towards it. Leveling himself out with the high speed, Naruto glared at the back of the fake monster as he retracted his leg. Right at the moment when the blond was close to the Titan, his leg shot out and landed a very powerful kick on the back of his own blade; digging it deep into the Titan's neck.

Dallis smirked at the precise maneuver in mid-air, and watched as the prince landed back on the ground with a smile on his face.

"You have certainly improved a lot these past few weeks..." praised the old man with his arms crossed.

Naruto wiped off some sweat with his sleeves as he walked up to his teacher. "All thanks to your effective training, Dallis-sensei."

The prince walked over to the edge of the very large room and enjoyed some much needed water from his bottle. Training in the past few months had been exponentially harder compared to before, but his body had been accommodating to it very nicely. It seemed that the increase in difficulty coupled with his start of puberty really allowed the prince to improve at astounding rates. For a twelve year old boy to complete such a task in less than five minutes was nothing short of the ordinary. Based on the improvement rate provided by the team of medical and physiological researchers, Prince Naruto would even be a greater soldier against the Titans than the renowned Captain Levi.

Dallis leaned against the back wall as he looked over at his student. "So you really are leaving the palace tomorrow?"

Naruto smiled as he poured some cold water on his face. "Yes...are you going to miss me?" joked the boy with a grin.

"You do realize that things will be much harsher and harder outside..." said the old man disregarding the prince's previous statement. "There will be no servants or maids out there, and no one will treat you like royalty."

Naruto smiled and nodded. "That is precisely what I want; I need to experience the world in the most real way possible if I am to be a good King later on..." The prince sighed as he stretched his arms. "I have read thousands of cases provided by the police force, but I need more substance in order to truly understand the hardship my people are going through."

Dallis sighed also as he sat down on a bench. "After his trip...I know that you will be a new man", said the General as he locked eyes with his student. "You may be wiser, stronger, and smarter, but you will definitely be more cynical."

"Then you should be happy; I'll turn into a serious old man like you..." joked Naruto as he walked over and placed a hand on Dallis' shoulder.

The General turned to face Naruto fully and placed both his hands on the boy's shoulders. "This is very serious Naruto...I need you to know this before you actually leave the palace."

"I know this already..." replied Naruto turning equally seriously. "I know I will be greatly affected on this trip, but I will embrace those lessons!" Dallis had an unknown emotion on his eyes as he listen to his future leader speak. "I do not want to be an ignorant fool like my Father...I want to know what it is really like to be a human in this world, I want to know what my people need and what they want, I want to know how to help make their lives better!" Naruto stood tall against the towering man in front of him and actually seemed bigger with his presence. "As the future King of Humanity, I need to do this..."

Dallis sighed as he closed his eyes. "I understand..." muttered the man as he opened his eyes to look at the blond boy in front of him. "...Ōji-sama!"

* * *

Naruto's personal quarters resembled a miniature library; the books literally filled the room to the brim. There were hundreds of weapon designs plastered on his desk, and a shelf filled with rifles and pistols that he would train to use almost every day. Then there was Naruto's most used possession, his twin blades by the side of his desk. Dallis Zacklay

The prince had ordered his people to craft him a set of unique blades from the same metal his soldiers use to battle the Titans. They took the appearance of traditional katana, but could also be attached to a 3D maneuvering system. After looking hundreds of ancient styles of using blades, Naruto had started to form his own style. It was still work in progress, but he was confident that it would turn out quite well.

"Onii-sama!" cried the voice of a small girl as she ran to her older brother with a smile on her face.

Naruto was surprised but smiled back at his little sister and wrapped his arms around her tightly. The girl looked to be only two to three years old, and had snow white hair with hazel brown eyes. She was wearing very classy clothing as several servants followed behind her; catering her every whim, which made Naruto a little worried for her future. It was also the same for the prince when he was younger, and he only started to refuse the borderline overwhelming treatment when he was five years old...

"Hey Hikari-chan…" muttered the boy softly against his sister's hair, "What are you doing here?"

Naruto was in the process of packing his things and preparing his weapons just as the little girl barged into his room. Even though they were siblings and that Hikari loved him very much, she didn't come to visit him much since her Mother was very protective of her. Naruto and Hikari were only half siblings; the blond's Mother was the late-Queen of humanity and the girl's Mother was one of the King's lower mistresses. The prince didn't care about the princess' lower status at all and loved her like his full blooded sister, but it didn't stop her timid Mother from being worried.

The girl giggled and kissed her brother on the cheek. "Okaa-sama went to the garden with Otou-sama, so I came here to play with you!"

Naruto smiled sadly as he gently kissed the girl on the forehead. "I'm very sorry Hikari-chan, but I have to leave the palace today", said the boy as he placed the frowning girl on the ground. "I am going on an educational trip with some of my teachers, and won't be back for a while." Naruto had planned to visit the little girl before he left, but it seemed that she already wanted to see him.

Tears started to gather in the girl's eyes as she hugged Naruto's legs. "What?!" cried Hikari in horror. "But I don't want you to go!" wailed the girl as she sobbed.

The blonde smiled sadly and knelt down to his sister's level. "Hey…don't cry Hikari-chan", whispered Naruto as he brushed the girl's tears away with his fingers. "I'll be back soon…" The prince reached back to his bed and grabbed a present that he readied for his sister in the first place. "Take this…" It was a long glass tube filled with various colors of chocolates. "There are 1095 pieces of chocolates in here; eat only one a day, and when you finished the whole thing, I will be back!" finished Naruto with a bright smile on his face.

Hikari sniffed as she took the tube of candy from her brother, "Really?"

Naruto nodded with his smile still on his face. "Yes, I promise you!" The boy picked up the girl and held her in his arms. "I will buy you many presents when I come back too…" Hikari wrapped her arms around her brother's neck as she continued to cry. Naruto felt a little guilty when he passed the princess back to her maid's arms and felt worst when she started to cry harder. The prince kissed his sister lovingly on her forehead and ruffled her hair. "Be good for your Okaa-sama, Hikari-chan."

The prince gestured to the maids silently, and they all obediently left the room with the sad princess. Naruto maintained his smile at his sister as she was carried out of the room. Deep inside, Naruto felt a little guilty about leaving his sister for so long, but it was a small price to pay for something so rewarding. Learning about the world outside of the palace was something that Naruto thought all royals should do, but since he was the only willing person, he shouldered the task of living in reality on his own.

With a sigh, Naruto walked over to his desk and packed several files of information into his travel bag, which was one of the last things he needed to bring on his trip. Inside the files was a mass of information Naruto condensed from the years of reading through the Civilian Reports, and a list of criminals he had to be on the lookout for.

The prince tucked his favorite pistol into the black leather holster that was attached to his belt. The boy was wearing a high collared black jacket over a white t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of comfortable back leather travel boots. Then there was his golden medallion attached to a necklace around his neck, which he made sure his shirt hid from the rest of the world.

"Time to get going…" muttered Naruto to himself as he held his sheathed twin blades in one hand as he walked out of his personal quarters with his bag over his shoulders. He never intended to pack much, but he did bring his personal banking information that would give him enough money to last several lifetimes in the world.

As the prince walked down the hallway to the main entrance of the palace, he saw a large painting of the late queen of humanity, who was also his birth mother. A small smile graced Naruto's face as he looked up at the beautiful blonde woman in an elegant dress. Naruto had never met his mother before as she died during childbirth, but he would occasionally talk to her when he would feel troubled…

_'See you later, Okaa-sama…'_

The prince ran out of the palace and got on his personal horse. The surrounding guards bowed in respect to their future leader as he gracefully rode out of the palace perimeter with his hair waving in the air. No one dared to question the known genius of the palace as he left the palace, and they didn't know that it would be over three years before they would see him again…

Naruto had his eyes barred onto the distance as he sped out of the palace on his horse...

_'Let this day mark a new change in humanity...I promise Kami-sama above that I will change this solemn world forever!' _

* * *

The End!

This is my newest story, and one of my favorites! I blasted through all the episodes of Shingeki no Kyojin in one day, and am currently reading the manga. This idea popped into my head during the third episode and it has been building itself on as I watched through the series. This will be one of my personal favorites, and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I do!

The pairing for this story has not been set in stone yet, but I am leaning towards **Naruto x Mikasa x Annie**!

I know that it would be hard to do a Romeo and Juliet romance with Naruto and Annie, but I love her character and would like to explore that possibility. Mikasa, on the other hand, made me fall in love with her character very quickly. I love how she is a badass and a loving girl at the same time, and it would be pretty easy to pair her with Naruto given a few changes in future chapters!

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**


	2. Mikasa

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 2 **

* * *

In the past one hundred years most of the human population had grown to adapt to the apparent peace, and society had slowly come to continue in a small and simple way. Within the towering walls protecting humanity people had found a way to continue their old fashions lifestyles. Under Wall Maria, hundreds of acres of farmland provided food and money for much of the population. Some of the farmers lived within one mile of the Titans with just the large wall in between them, but that dangerous fact continued to elude their minds.

At the outskirts of the land within Wall Maria, a small family of three operated a small farm. They were the last of a once dominant clan known as the Orientals, and they have distinct black hair that was a dark as the night sky. Despite being the last of their kind, they were happy to live a simple and happy life on their own.

Laughter and smiled filled their lives every day as the parents showered their little girl with all the love in the world. The kind mother would teach her daughter to develop her own green thumb in the small garden in front of their house, and the father would cook, in the best of his ability, new dishes of his hunting accomplishments for his family every night.

In the small world, and in their own way, the family was enjoying the joys life brought them, but they never thought that they would be target because of that reason…

"TOU-SAN!" cried a hysterical girl as she peeped out from her mother's arms to see her father bleeding on the ground.

Three men stared down at the lasts of the Orientals with gleams in their eyes; each silently thinking about the abundant amount of money they would get after they hand the two remaining Orientals to their client. It took them a whole year to track down such rare people, and it was soothing for them to think that their hard work would finally be paid off…

The mother's long black hair veiled her daughter as much as it could, but the woman herself was shaking in grief and fear. The desperation of saving her little girl was breaking through every mental filter in her mind, and her eyes were staring at a lone steak knife on the dinner table just a few feet away from her…

"K-Kaa-san…" whimpered the young girl as she shook in her mother's arms.

All the girl registered in her mind was the slight exhale of her mother as she jumped up. The girl was pushed to the ground, but her eyes followed her mother. The woman cried out as she grabbed the knife on the table and lunged forward at the man closest to her…

"MIKASA, RUN!" cried the mother as she tried to stab the man, and the girl watched in horror as the man catch the knife.

"K-Kaa-san!" cried Mikasa as she tried desperate to scramble to her feet.

The mother tried to push the man away as she turned back to her daughter. "I said run!"

Her mother's voice filled Mikasa's ears as she watched the scene on…but everything was suddenly silenced. The girl's eyes widened as her mother sudden let out a silent scream; blood streamed out of her out as she was stabbed hard behind her back. Mikasa desperately tried to turn away from the scene or just to close her eyes…but to matter what she did, she couldn't move a single muscle in her body.

"What the hell are you doing!" cried one of the men. "That one was worth a fortune!"

"Whatever man, she was already a mother!" replied the man wearing a bandana on his head. "The girl is the virgin here!"

Mikasa was shaking in the ground as she looked at the fallen bodies of her loving parents. Blood was flowing out of their bodies and stained the wooden floors that they used to play on every single day. The mother was still twitching a little on the ground as her eyes strained over to look at her little girl. Her lips moved very weakly, but no sounds came out…Mikasa still saw what her mother was trying to say.

_"Run now…"_

Mikasa was catatonic and couldn't move an inch…her eyes were locked onto her mother's face as the men started to walk over to her. Their towering shadows blocked the little moonlight that filtered into the small house, and their slowly emerging grins seeped their way into the girl's mind. The girl felt hopeless; she knew that it was already too late to run away and the men would be able to catch her…

"Time to come with us girly…" muttered the shortest man out of the three as he reached his hand down. "…don't worry, we won't hur-"

The man was loudly interrupted as a gunshot sounded through the area. The two remaining men were in shock as their comrade's head suddenly flicked backwards as blood splattered all over the place. The short man fell to his knees as most of his forehead was blasted to bits, and he joined his two victims on the wooden floor.

The scene shook Mikasa out of her stupor a little and she slowly back away from the fallen man as his blood started to flow near her. As the girl's back reached the back wall, she heard a steady pace of footsteps coming into her house. The front door was right next to her, and she flinched when she saw someone walk through the door wearing a pair of black leather boots.

"Human Traffickers…" said a voice that was rather juvenile as a young man walked into the small house. "I've been looking for the few of you for a while now…but it seems that was a bit too late."

The two men pointlessly grabbed onto their weapons, which consisted of a sledge hammer and a machete and faced the newcomer fiercely. Fear and paranoia filled the two men as they saw the blond hair of the man, and it got worse when a pair of piercing blue eyes stared into their souls. In the past year, someone had been killing off almost every criminal wanted, which was something very new as the police force would rarely be in the Wall Maria area. Records showed that the bounty hunter had blond hair and blue eyes…though no one had ever said that it was just a young teenager.

The people came to call the unknown hunter, the Purge, and he was welcomed by the majority of humanity. No one knew how the Purge kept finding random criminals, or how he managed to kill them off so easily, but no one really cared. There was unknown enemy against the scum of humanity, and as long as he was taking out the trash no one care who or what he was. Because of the Purge, the crime rates had been gradually decreasing; every criminal would start to cower at the mention of the Purge.

From the looks of it, the Purge was only a young teenager who still had a bit of baby fat on his cheeks. His spiky blond hair was sticking out of his hooded cloak as his body was covered by an armored vest. There was another pistol in a holster strapped around his right leg, which was also covered by a pair of black combat pants. The boy was tall for his presumed age; standing at about five feet in height. There was something about him that frightened the two full grown men in front of him; it was as if there was some sort of aura that projected the boy's anger and intent to kill.

"How much are you two getting paid?" asked the boy as he reloaded his pistol, "How much is worth killing two people and ruining the life of a young girl?" The boy's voice was eerily calm and stoic, and it was quite unsettling for the people in the same room.

"Who are you?" asked the apparent leader of the group, who was a tall man with a short beard and no hair. The sledge hammer in his hands looked very destructive, but everyone knew that it would be useless against a man with a pistol.

The blond boy cracked his neck and leaned his weight on one side. "I think you already know the answer to that…"

With a silent gesture to his remaining partner, the leader started to slide to the right as his partner made his way to the left. It was the only way to fight against the young teenager in front of them; to take advantage to their superior numbers. The two men's eyes remained locked onto the boy as they moved very slowly and steadily, but their quick breathing displayed their obvious fear and nervousness.

The Purge stood in the same spot emotionless as his eyes remained unfocused. It seemed that he paid no mind to the two men surrounding him, or at the fact that he only held one gun in one hand with two opponents coming at him…

Mikasa looked up at the boy who was just a few years older than her, not because she was particularly baffled by his demeanor, but because she was afraid to look anywhere else; the boy was the only sight that could provide her some sort of security. Though there was something in the girl's hands, and it was the knife that killed her mother and that the man dropped to reached for his sledge hammer…

"Die you punk!" cried the second in command as he slashed his machete down at the Purge. The leader naturally took action at the very same moment, and swung his large hammer towards the boy as hard as he could.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the boy as suddenly holding onto a blade of his own, and it used the leader's own strength to slice through the bar of the sledge hammer effortlessly. As the hammerhead fell to the ground, the boy kicked his right foot up to deflect the machete coming at him, and the large crashing sound of the hammerhead hitting the wooden floors was covered by the loud bang of the pistol shooting through the second in command's head.

The Purge glared into the dead man's eyes as he fell to the ground lifelessly; his blood tainting the flooring around him…

The leader knew that there was only one way for him to get out of the situation alive, and it was only a few feet away from him. The large man leaped as fast as he could, and before the boy could turn around, caught Mikasa in his arms in a dead lock. The girl cried out in fear as she was lifted up into the man's arms as his large hand threatened to crush her windpipe.

"H-Help!" croaked out the girl as the boy turned fully towards them.

"You are truly pathetic…" muttered the blond as his pistol and blade rested against his sides, "To think that a grown man like you would use a little girl in order to save your own life."

"Shut up, you little shit!" cried the man in anger. "Put your pistol and blade on the ground and turn around!" The man's grip around the girl's neck tightened and made her groan out in pain. "Or I will snap her neck!"

"What are you going to do if I don't…kill your only hope of survival?" asked the boy with a hint of condescension in his tone. "There can only be two outcomes here…either you kill the girl then I kill you, or I wait until you are too tired to hold the girl and I kill you…" The man growled in anger as the boy just smirked. "You will not kill the girl…because if you do I will kill you right away."

"Then what the hell do you want me to do?!" cried the man out in frustration.

The blond smiled and nodded. "There we go…you aren't as stupid as I thought." The boy placed his blade back into his cloak and pulled out his other pistol before putting the first one back. His demeanor was quite calm considering the situation, and it was further proven when he pulled up a chair from the dinner table and sat down with a sigh. "I want some information…"

The man was shaking a little by the legs as he held the girl's neck tightly, "What the hell do you want to know?!"

The boy placed one leg over the other as his pistol dangled loosely in his hand. "Who was it that hired you, what does he want with the girl and where does he live?"

"I-I can't tell you that!" cried the man frustrated. "Even if you let me go now, he'll kill me when he finds out I ratted him out!"

The blond's eyes suddenly turned very serious. "If you don't tell me you will die now…" muttered the young teen dangerously.

The man was silent for a few minutes but finally gave in; he would rather live now and try to escape then to die right away. "H-He is the chief merchant within Wall Rose…the richest and most powerful man in the entire Rose section." The boy's expression remained stoic as he listened to the man, but inside he was already planning to pay a visit to Wall Rose. "He has a huge harem in his home…we are hired by him to find an Oriental virgin for him to add to his collection."

"How much is he paying you?" inquired the blond with a dangerous edge in his voice.

"50,000 dollars…"

"I see…" muttered the young teen as he finally stood up from the chair. "For 50,000 dollars, you people are willing to completely destroy a family of three…you killed the father, you killed the mother, and you are planning to ship the daughter off to some old rich man so he could have his way with her…" The blond stopped in his tracks and glared mercilessly at the man as his blood boiled in rage. "You disgust me…"

Mikasa had tears falling from her cheeks as she shakily listened on…

"I-I'm sorry!" cried the man in fright as the teenager's pistol started to aim towards him, and the girl's small body was not enough to cover him. "I needed the money!" The man was backing away from the Purge with his shaking legs. "Who has the time for a clean conscience in this world…it is always hunt or be hunted!" The Purge stepped toward as each word passed through the man's mouth. "It is the way of life!"

The room was relatively silent for a few minutes as the blond motionlessly continued to stare at the man; the only sources of sound were the rapid breathing of the man and the girl in his grasp…

"You're right…" said a sudden and surprising voice as the girl suddenly stopped shaking in the man's arms. "It is to hunt or be hunted…" The Purge was surprised to suddenly see the girl pull out a knife from her clothing. The blond saw no hesitation as the girl stabbed the knife into the man's side; it was as if she was doing a very natural thing.

"AAAHHHHH!" cried the man as he was forced to release the girl.

Mikasa fell to the ground and saw that her knife was still lodged in the man's side, and she reached for it with a newfound steadiness. The girl ripped the blade out harshly and ignored the man's cries of anguish as she stabbed him again, this time in the stomach. Scenes of natural selection ran through the girl's mind as she let loose her blood-soaked frenzy; it became her atonement; the world had always consisted of predators and victims, and she didn't want to be a victim.

_'Spiders and flies…'_

_'Cat and mouse…'_

_'Humans and cattle…'_

The man was back up against the wall, and he was glaring down at the girl as his blood continued to splatter along the walls. As a last attempt to get even, seeing how he was going to die anyway, the man's hand pulled back into a fist and was planning to break the girl's neck on impact…

A loud bang sounded throughout the small house again; even the girl was shocked out of her stupor by it. The blond teenager had pulled the trigger on the man and blasted his head to pieces against the wall. The boy felt a sense of relief at the death of all the criminals, and allowed himself to relax after the stressful experience that felt like days. His blue eyes peered over at the girl who was still holding onto her knife very tightly, and decided to walk over to her to see if she was alright.

"Hey…" started the young teen softly. "Are you alright?"

The girl slowly turned to face her savior with tears falling freely from her eyes. There was a lot of blood along her clothes and face, but it was her hands that were almost completely covered with blood. She couldn't tell if the blood belonged to her parents or her victim, but either way it made her feel sick…the sight of her savior was the only thing keeping her mind in one piece.

Without a word, the girl dropped the knife to the ground and ran into her savior's arms. The blond automatically wrapped his arms around the crying girl and started to whisper soothing words into her ear. He couldn't imagine what the girl was going through at the moment; to see her own parents being killed at such a young age would be enough to traumatize anyone. All he could do at the moment was to offer the girl as much support and comfort she would need…

"It's okay…" whispered the blond quietly. "You are safe now…"

The boy pulled away from the hug and pulled back his hood to reveal his full face to the girl in front of him. The bright smile on the blond's face and his twinkling blue eyes made the girl feel a little better instantly; his warm and comforting aura also played a part in the situation.

"I'm Naruto, what's your name?"

The girl mostly stopped shaking and looked into Naruto's blue eyes. "I'm Mikasa Ackerman…"

"Mikasa-chan…that is such a pretty name", The young teen pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and started to lightly clean the girl's face of the blood splatter; the wet tears still on her face made it easy for him to get rid of the drying blood. The menial task made both occupants of the house calmer, and their breathing began to completely level out. "There you go Mikasa-chan…all pretty again!"

Mikasa's remained locked to Naruto's own blue orbs, and she nodded very slightly at his words…

"Let's get you out of here…" Naruto held Mikasa's shoulders as he started to back out of the room; making sure that the girl had her eyes looking into his own as they made their way out; the last thing he wanted was for the girl to see her dead parents again. A rush of cold night air filled both their surroundings as they made it outdoors, and the fresh air really helped Naruto clear his mind. But then there was sudden rush of incoming footsteps from behind the two young teenagers, and Naruto looked back to see a man along with a young boy.

The man had long hair and a small mustache; he was holding onto some sort of brief case and looked quite worried based on his expression. The boy beside him was young; looked to be about ten years old. He had short dark brown hair and had rather intense eyes for someone his age. They were both running towards the Ackerman household, and froze when they saw Naruto and Mikasa…

"What is going on here?!" demanded the man loudly.

Naruto sighed and pulled Mikasa back into a gently hug; he really didn't want to explain the situation with Mikasa being so close, but he didn't want to let go of the girl in distress. The blond analyzed the newcomer, and assumed that he was no threat. The man was very skinny and looked weak, and he had a child with him, so it was unlikely that he was an enemy…

"This family was attacked by three Human Traffickers, and the two parents were killed in the process." The blond fully stood up and held Mikasa to his chest. "Did you know this family?"

The man was shocked and horrified at first, but then looked at the young man suspiciously as he stepped forward. "Yes…I am Grisha Jäger and I was their doctor, and who are you?"

"I'm the one who got rid of the criminals…" said the blond as he stepped up to the doctor. "But that is not important right now; can you see if Mikasa-chan is doing okay?"

Doctor Jäger was silent for a short while, not knowing if he should trust the strange person in front of him, but nodded either way. The top priority was to determine if the girl was alright, so he knelt down next to her.

"Mikasa…do you remember me, I am Doctor Jäger, I helped your mother and father before."

Mikasa pulled away from Naruto a little and nodded. "Yes…"

Grisha smiled and patted the girl a little on her head. "I'm going to check you over a little okay; I want to see if you are alright."

The Doctor diagnosed the girl just as he would everyone else; he checked her pulse, her eyes, he checked for any wounds on the body, but overall she was fine. There were a few cuts around her body but it was not anything serious; the real problem at hand was the girl's almost definite psychological wound. Watching your own parents being killed in front of you is not something anyone could bare, and everyone was worried about how the girl would handle it.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. "You should be fine Mikasa, please sit down a rest for a little while", said the man before he turned back to his son. "Sit with her Eren; make sure she is alright…" The boy nodded silently as he walked over to the girl; it was shocking for him as well; he was supposed to come to meet the girl tonight and they found her family slaughtered. It made Eren mad just thinking about it.

Naruto and the Doctor walked off to the side silently as the children's light chatter barely reached them. "So I assume you have some questions for me?"

Grisha nodded and crossed his arms. "Yes, can you tell me why you are here in the first place?" asked the man as Naruto maintained stoic. "This is not a very crowded area; almost nobody passes by at night."

The blond teenager sighed and nodded. "I have been trying to track down those Human Traffickers for a while now, and their trail led me here tonight," explained the boy as he turned his eyes back a little to look at the emotionless Mikasa. "But it seems that I was too late to save her parents."

The Jäger looked down at the teenager with confusion. "Why were you following those criminals in the first place; you are just a kid!"

Naruto smirked and crossed his arms. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the need to explain myself to you…" said the blond as the Doctor recoiled back a little. "All you need to worry about is the girl; with my gunshots a few minutes ago, I imagine the police will come soon, and I rely on you to take care of the situation."

Before the Doctor could say another word, Naruto walked back toward the kids with a smile on his face. Mikasa instantly looked up at him when he was close to her, and stood up to get closer to him. The blond smiled down at the young girl and patted her head tenderly.

"It's going to be okay, Mikasa-chan…" said Naruto with a kind smile. "Those bad men are all dead and they won't ever try to hurt you again!"

Mikasa nodded as she continued to stare into Naruto's eyes. "Okay…"

Naruto nodded back and stepped away a little. "I have to leave before the police get here…but don't worry, Doctor Jäger here will take care of you." Mikasa looked very troubled as Naruto turned his back and took a step away. "See you later, Mikasa-chan!"

"NO!" cried the girl as she ran forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist. "Don't leave me!"

Naruto was surprised at the extreme reaction, but could understand why the girl would want him to stay. "Mikasa-chan…you are safe now; you don't need me here anymore."

Mikasa wrapped her arms tighter around Naruto's waist and shook her head. "Let me go with you…" muttered the girl softly. "I don't want to be alone here…"

The blond turned around fully to face the girl. "You can't go with me, it is too dangerous", explained the Purge as he ruffled Mikasa's hair.

The Doctor decided that it was his time to speak up. "You can stay with my family, Mikasa!" The man knew that if the boy would continue to track down criminals then it would be very dangerous for Mikasa to follow him around; the last thing he would want would be to find Mikasa dead on the streets.

Mikasa was shocked as she turned around to look at the Doctor and his nodding son…

Naruto smiled and nodded along. "Yes, the Doctor here is a very nice man and he will take good care of you…"

Grisha walked up to the girl and slowly pulled her away from Naruto. "You can come live with us…my wife had always wanted a daughter and would love you very much." Eren walked over with his father and nodded at his words. "Eren will also be like a little brother for you…he's not very good with other people so you can help him with that." Eren made a face and crossed his arms at his father's comment.

Mikasa looked persuaded but her eyes were still lingering on Naruto. "But…can I see you again?"

Naruto smiled at the girl as he pulled something out from his pocket. "Come here Mikasa-chan…" The girl walked over to her savior and was a little confused when he started to put a necklace on her. It really was quite beautiful; it was a narrow piece of emerald alongside some smaller piece of diamond. "My mother left me this necklace, so it is very precious to me…" said the young blond as he pulled away from the girl. "Why don't you keep it safe for me, and when I have time I will come back for it?"

The girl looked down at the necklace before she looked back up at Naruto with teary eyes. "Okay…Naruto-san."

Naruto smiled happily before he leaned in to plant a gentle kiss on Mikasa's forehead. "Be safe Mikasa-chan…" The boy stood up fully and stepped backwards from the group. "I really need to go now…" started the teenager as he looked over at the Doctor. "Please take care of Mikasa-chan for me…"

Grisha nodded seriously. "You can count on us."

"Good luck Naruto-san!" cried Eren with a smile; he had taken a liking to the man who took out three criminals and saved the little girl.

Naruto smiled one last time before he turned around and sprinted away…

"SEE YOU LATER, MIKASA-CHAN!" cried the blond as he disappeared from view…

Mikasa looked down at her new necklace with a sad smile. "Goodbye…Naruto-san."

* * *

The End!

That was the second chapter of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked it!

Just to clear things up, Naruto is currently 13 years old and it has been one year since he left his palace. Everyone else is the same age was they would be in canon.

I know this is quite a change compared to canon, but I needed to do this in order to make the Naruto x Mikasa paring work in the future. Mikasa will still love Eren a lot, but it will be love between brother and sister.

Next chapter will be the start of the canon timeline, so be on the lookout for it!

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**


	3. Breaking Down the Wall

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 3**

* * *

Naruto felt happy...

Looking around his surroundings, the fourteen year old boy saw smiling kids and proud parents everywhere. The sun was high and warm in the air, and soft brisk wind blew through the serenity and calmness around Wall Maria. In the past two years, the crime rates within Wall Maria had been decreasing gradually, and the numbers were continuing to drop. The name of the Purge had reached all corners within Wall Maria, and criminals withered away at the name.

The criminals inside the large wall were not soft or cowardly people, but they were pragmatists. They were eerie about the Purge, but never actually thought that it would actually pose as a threat against the entirety of the criminal world. The chilling fact was revealed when the Purge traveled inland and utterly destroyed the entirety of the main merchant of Wall Rose.

It was pandemonium. The 50,000 square feet estate was completely broken down. The walls were demolished, the trees were uprooted, the housing infrastructure was torn out, and the main merchant himself was hung up in a fifty foot long pole from the ground. The man was not dead, but someone had blade-carved out the word "Greed" on his back, chest, both cheeks, and forehead.

The man's twenty women harem was disbanded the same day, and it was the man's private security unit who carried boxes of money out of the estate. It turns out that the man harbored a huge fortune inside his property, and the Purge man his men evenly distribute all of it to the people within Wall Rose and Wall Maria. Then there were the merchant's trading goods; all of it was sold at the minimum price to the public.

All of these things made the population very happy and grateful towards the Purge, and the rise in positive energy made the general mood of the public a lot better than before. People started to place their faith in the economy again; like a chained reaction, everyone was improving gradually.

_'One person can make a difference…'_

"Hello there young man!" chirped a middle aged woman holding a basket of roses. "How about buying some flowers for your girlfriend?"

Naruto smiled back and nodded. "Sure, give me several."

"Here you go!"

The blond walked away after giving the lady some money. Naruto was just on the way to visit Doctor Jäger so he could check if the girl he save a year ago was doing alright, and the roses would be a good gift for her. The blond also had a bottle of wine for the Jäger family.

With the flowers in hand, Naruto made his way towards the address he got from his sources, but he was stopped when the giant bells on the clock tower rang loudly. The blond knew exactly what it meant; the Recon Corps was back. Naruto had high respect for the people who chose to expand the human horizon, but unfortunately, their death tolls were always over 30%.

Naruto walked over to the gathered crowd and peered out to see the marching horses and walking troops. The smile on the blond's face immediately faltered when he saw the bloodied and distraught faces of the men. The mood worsened considerably when family members of the Recon Corps walked out to see their sons and daughters, and some of them couldn't find them. Naruto closed his eyes in both respect and sadness as mothers cried for their fallen sons…

"Why do these pathetic people even try?!" cried a man as he pointed over at the Recon Corps. "They are going out there to be dinner for the Titans!" People around the man glared over at his direction, but no one said anything. "They should al jus-"

The man was silenced when someone suddenly punched him hard in the stomach; he doubled over and started to cough violently on the ground. The people around the man smirked at his embarrassing posture and just watched the scene on. The man on the ground groaned in pain as he twisted his body to see the person who attacked him…

"Y-You punk!"

Naruto glared down at the man viciously as he stomped his leg on the man's chest. "Maybe I should throw you over the wall…I'm not a great cook but I'm sure the Titans won't mind!" The man chose wisely and kept his mouth shut. "If I hear you say anything so disrespectful again I will kill you…" Naruto allowed the threat to linger a short while before he walked off…

The prince stalked off silently into the dispersing crowd, and had a slight frown on his face. Conquering more land for humans was among the top priorities on Naruto's list when he would become King, but the Titans were still apparently too much for the Scouting Legion. The difference in number and power between humans and Titans had too great a gap; it would take some major developments on the human's part if they ever want to exterminate the Titans. For the very same reason, Naruto planned to order the Wall Sina population to heavily focus of technological research and development; it was about time to task the Sina population instead of letting them live like royalty.

The awkward silence on the streets started to lift, and chatter began to liven up again. With a sigh passing through his lips, Naruto continued his way towards the Jäger home, but his pace was very slow. The past few weeks had been very hectic for Naruto as he was finishing up the criminals on the northern part of Wall Maria, and he wanted to enjoy a quiet walk in the midst of town. Naruto's favorite part of the town was the calm river that ran through it; it was quiet and steady; the very image he was thriving for his people…

It was when Naruto was enjoying the view of the river that he saw something very familiar…

It was his mother's necklace…he recognized its brilliant green reflection. Adjusting his gaze across the river, Naruto saw the girl wearing the necklace, and she had a soft smile on her face. It was a beautiful smile; one of contentment. It was Mikasa, looking more grown up than one year ago, and she was happy.

There were two other young teenagers around her; one of them was Eren Jäger, the same boy that was at the Ackerman home the night of their deaths. The other boy Naruto did not know, but he was also smiling and apparently was having fun with his two friends. The group of three was holding onto a book; Naruto couldn't see what the title was, but it was an old book and he was glad that there were still children willing to learn from the historic wisdom of the old ages…

With a smile still etched on his face, Naruto saw Mikasa turning over to his direction…

The prince saw the girl's eyes glaze over for a brief second before widening. Naruto smiled brighter as he lifted his arm for a wave, and felt happy when he saw the beautiful smile that appeared on Mikasa's face.

The girl turned to face her savior fully; hoping that the river between them would somehow disappear…

"Narut-"

Before the heartfelt reunion could ensue, a ground shaking explosion sounded through the area. Naruto and Mikasa's eyes widened as the ground beneath them shook violently from the apparent impact. Around them, people were falling into the river because of the sudden shock, and glass windows were shattered from the vibrations. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto could have sworn that he saw a strike of yellow lightning hit the ground near the outward area of Wall Maria…

Looking back over at Mikasa, Naruto saw that she was also staring over at him. A silent message conveyed between them and they both started to run towards the town hall to get a better view on the situation.

The blond was a lot faster than Mikasa and her friends, and made it to the common area in less than ten seconds. A giant crowd had already gathered in the large area, and everyone was looking up at the wall. Naruto felt a huge sense of foreboding as he turned his eyes up at the wall, and what he saw shocked him to the core…

It was a gigantic hand, and its fingers were strong enough to crack the top parts of the wall. A large shroud of steam blocked the view, but the full image began to clear up as the seconds that felt like days passed. The face of the most disgusting Titan revealed itself to humanity; showing everyone in sight that their walls were obsolete…

"Titan…" Naruto whispered to himself as he challenged himself to accept the fact that the Titan's height exceeded the 60 meter tall wall.

Panic started to arise around the prince; people were running away screaming, mothers were cradling their children, husbands were pulling their wives into their arms, some people were just crying on the spot. Everyone must accept something that they convinced themselves would never happen. The Titans will break through the wall. Deep inside Naruto's mind, he also had a linger hope that the Titans would never make it into their walls, but he was reminded of how naive that hope was...

Naruto saw the Titan put his other hand on the wall and started to lean his head in…based on the experience he had in fighting Naruto knew that its body language suggested only one thing…

**"RUN!" **cried the prince as loud as he could as his eyes widened in shock.

Naruto was on in horror as the bottom gate of Wall Maria was destroyed by a single kick from the Titan. Large piles of debris were destroying countless buildings around town, and a huge number of people were crushed on impact. Complete havoc ensued in a split-second, and the town was in pandemonium.

The quiet serenity turned into piercing shrieks of fear, and the grounds were shaking as everyone ran away from the southern part of town. Naruto remained motionless as he waited for the dust to settle. Much to his horror, there was a gaping hole where the main gate once stood, and it was large enough for the other Titans to come in. Smaller vibrations of footsteps were filtered into the ears of everyone in the area, and smaller Titans started to come through the hole in the wall.

Everyone was catatonic; it has been one hundred since mankind had been protected by the walls, so no average person alive today had ever seen an actually Titan in their lives. Entire swarms of people were barreling to the other side of town in frenzy; it would not surprise Naruto if someone was trampled to death by other humans. Everyone had heard stories about Titans and how the _eat _every human they see; that alone was much more than enough to render everyone into fleeing cattle.

Naruto himself, after two years of hunting down criminals, was shocked at the sight of the Titans. The models his teacher prepared for his training did not do the Titans justice. The real Titans had a strange smell to them that made human cower away, and their heated presence was very intimidating. The worst part for Naruto was the expressions of the Titans faces...some of them were smiling as they devoured their meal...

Despite his fear and shock, Naruto knew what he had to do. The blond turned around and ran as fast as he could to the very east end of town. It was very hard for the young man to not stop and help some people along the way who were stuck under piles of debris, but he knew that it was more important to deal with the Titans first. Shifting his eyes back at the main wall, Naruto was shocked to see that the giant Titan was no longer behind the wall…it just disappeared.

The prince's mind was running at a hundred miles an hour while trying to reason the situation out, but he could think of nothing. It should have been impossible for something so big to vanish in thin air. It was almost as if it had thoughts, and its purpose was to break down the wall so the other Titans could come in and feed...

Shaking his head, Naruto gave a final short burst of speed, and he arrived at the guarding station with Wall Maria.

"There are Titans coming in from the south!" cried the prince into the station. "Gather your equipment and let's go!"

Much to the young man's surprise, there were only five guards in the station. He could see at least ten 3D harnesses on the equipment shelf, so the only explanation was that five other guards had already ran away…

"What are you doing here kid, run away!" cried one of the guards as he got ready to jump into action.

Suppressing his own feelings of disappointment, Naruto ran past the remaining guards and grabbed a pack of equipment for himself. Ignoring the cries of the men behind him, Naruto immediately placed the harness on himself and readied his blades. He knew he had the skill to fight, and he would delay the Titans as much as possible. The main priority was to evacuate the population of Wall Maria to Wall Rose, and that would take time…

The prince was leaping from building to building using his gas propelled cables, and he could already see some Titans up ahead…

_'Wow…this is the first time I've actually seen a real Titan', _thought Naruto to himself as he got closer to the 7 meter tall being. _'It kind of looks like a human…' _The Titan was holding a man in his hand and was biting it in half as if he was enjoying a nice snack, _'But it is just a monster!'_

Naruto shot his cable to a wall behind the Titan and propelled himself towards it at high speeds. "DIE!" The prince drove his twin blades straight across the back of the Titan's neck; permanently killing it. He could still remember the training from Dallis clearly, and his muscle memory was still there.

Another Titan suddenly ran out from beside Naruto with its mouth opened, and it almost snapped the prince in half. The blond escaped by the skin of his teeth by jumping off of the building he was on, and was immediately back on the initiative. Glaring at the mindless beast behind him, Naruto shot his cable to the right and attached himself to a tall tower.

Pulling himself towards the building, Naruto channeled his weight to his left side, and just as he was about to touch the tower, he released he cable and allowed his body to be shot into the distance. With his height in the air, Naruto could fully see the Titan below him. With another shot down towards a building close to the beast, Naruto barreled down while spinning his body and his blades almost sliced the Titan's entire head off from the base of its neck.

"RUN!" The prince cried to the people below; the Titans were flooding into the town, and there were still countless people around. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto saw something that shocked him. There were people running back to the southern end, and it was Mikasa!

* * *

Mikasa's mind was still wondering if Naruto was okay after the sudden attack from the Titans, but her body was following Eren to their home. Their father had left for the inner wall early in the day, so he should be fine, but their mother was still at home. Looking ahead, the girl saw her brother frantically running up the stone paved road; he had an extremely feared look on his face, one that reminded Mikasa of herself a year ago.

In the time Mikasa had joined her new family, she had gotten to know her little brother a lot. He was a young man with extreme emotions, and she knew that he would not be able to calm his mind during hard situations. Mikasa was praying in her heart for their mother's safety, not only would Eren go crazy if he lost her, she also didn't want to lose two mothers so soon…

As the two ran past the devastated areas of their usual neighborhood, they were horrified to see the carnage that paved the roads. People were crushed under large chunks of rock, their blood splattered along the pavement. Family members were wailing out their loved one's names as they desperately tried to pull the lower half of their bodies out of the gathered debris.

All of this made Mikasa and Eren even more scared than before…

"No…" muttered Eren as he ran ahead of Mikasa, "…our house is going to be just fine; we are going to turn around this corner and it is going to be standing there like always!"

Mikasa was also very hopeful, but she was disheartened when she saw the shocked expression on Eren's face when he turned around the corner. The girl rushed past her brother to see the situation for herself, and she was also shocked to see half of their house as rubble on the ground.

"KAA-SAN!" cried Eren as he ran as fast as he could to his home.

Mikasa quickly followed and grew increasingly shocked at the sight of their mother being trapped under the central pillar of their own home. The debris covered Carla Jäger up to her upper back, but she still appeared to be fine. Eren was desperate to get to his mother's side, and Mikasa was right behind him.

"Eren, Mikasa…" Carla muttered in relief, not because they were here to save her, but that they were safe themselves.

Eren analyzed the situation and stood by one side of the pillar. "Come on Mikasa, we have to get this pillar off!"

"Okay…" Mikasa grabbed the other end of the pillar, and as one, they both tried to lift the large chuck of wood. The girl knew that it was no use; both of them were mustering as much strength as possible, but the pillar did not move at all; it was just too heavy for them. But no matter what Mikasa did not want to give up; she suppressed the thought of it being impossible in her mind and kept on pushing forward; convincing herself that something will happen and her mother would be safe.

The footsteps of nearby Titans were getting louder and louder, and some of them could be since despite some large buildings covering most of their bodies. The sounds of humans crying out were getting softer, and it was probably because most humans had already been eaten…

"Mikasa…" started Carla with a low voice. "Eren…run away now!"

Eren looked at his mother in shock. "What are you saying, Kaa-san, we are not leaving here without you!"

The mother gave up on convincing her son and turned to her daughter. "Mikasa, this pillar is too heavy; take Eren away from here before it's too late!" Mikasa had tears in her eyes as she was put in the middle; she wanted to save her mother, but also wanted her brother to survive.

"NO!" cried Eren before anyone could go on, "We'll all get out of here; no one is going to die!" Eren continued to pull on the pillar, and his hands were bleeding. Mikasa mentally agreed with her brother, she didn't want to stand helplessly again as her family was being slaughtered.

Carla was opening crying as she watched her children desperately trying to save her…

"CAN YOU TWO LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE?!" cried the mother as loudly as she could, "JUST THIS ONCE?!"

Suddenly, there was very close and loud footstep…

Mikasa and Eren looked up, and there was a Titan right in front of them. It was standing behind their house, and was heading towards them. It had the most disturbing smile etched to its face, and its eyes barred into the children's souls…

Carla knew what her children were seeing and cried more. "Please…run and live on."

A large shadow stretched out from behind the house, and the footsteps became louder and louder. From where she was, all Carla could see was a large hand reaching down towards them, and she closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to see were her children being devoured by a Titan right in front of her…because of her.

Eren and Mikasa both hand their eyes closed as they felt the Titan's heat near their skin…but they were still trying to lift the pillar.

"NOOOO!" cried Carla as loud as she could.

For Mikasa and Eren, all they could hear was their mother's voice. Suddenly, there were no more footsteps, no more rumbling; even the heat near them was starting to dissipate…

Both children looked up after a few seconds, and saw the Titan just standing there…then they saw some blood along its neck. The Titan's large body started to sway from side to side…then it fell. The impact with the ground was very loud, and it shook everything around the area. Carla felt pain throughout her body was the debris on top of her shake, but was more than happy to see the Titan dead on the ground…

The body of the Titan almost landed on top of the house; it was only off by a few feet. As the sense of extreme relief coursed through Eren, Carla and Mikasa's mind, they realized there was someone standing on top of the Titan's head…

Eren and Carla were shocked at the scene, but Mikasa had tears flowing from her eyes…

"You didn't think I would be late every time, did you, Mikasa-chan?

Naruto jumped down from the evaporating corpse and walked up to the two kids with a smile on his face. Everyone was looking at him with different expressions and emotions, but he was particularly happy to see Mikasa's. The girl had a smile on her face, but it was not just any simple smile. The soft curve with her lips and tears of relief in her eyes conveyed to Naruto that her own miracle had happened…her prayer had been answered…just as she thought; he was there to save her again.

Just like one year ago, Mikasa released her suppressed feelings and ran into Naruto's arms with tears in her eyes. The girl wrapped her arms around her savior as tightly as she could, and relished at his warmth against her body; it made her feel safe. Naruto was the one person in her life that Mikasa knew she could always count on, and he was also the one person she could use as a pillar of strength…

Both Eren and his mother were a little shocked at Mikasa's behavior despite the dire situation. Mikasa had never once cried in front of them; even the first night she stayed over at their home, the same night her parents died, she'd never shed a tear. Unlike his mother, Eren knew who Naruto was, and could safely assume that because it was him who saved Mikasa a year ago, she could reasonably allow herself to rely and depend on him…

"It's alright Mikasa-chan…" started Naruto just like he did one year ago. "You're safe now." Absentmindedly, Naruto noticed that Mikasa was taller than before; this time she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"Y-You're really here…" whispered Mikasa close to his ear, "I was praying that you would show up and you actually did!"

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Of course I did…"

The sound of someone landing with the 3D maneuvering system sounded from behind the group, and they looked back to see Hannes land on the ground. The guard was a familiar friend of the Jäger family, and kind of a surrogate uncle of Eren's. He was also one of the guards that Naruto saw at the station earlier; he was one of the courageous few of the local stationary guards…

Hannes ran over to the destroyed home, and his eyes immediately drifted to the burning Titan corpse beside the house…

_'Who killed that Titan?' _wondered the man silently as he saw the blades and gear by Naruto's sides. _'Did that kid kill it?!' _

"Hannes, come help lift this pillar!" cried Eren desperately.

Hannes realized the direness of the situation and immediately ran over to the left side of the pillar. Naruto also ran up to the debris and grabbed hold of the left side along with Eren. The boy looked up at Naruto, and even though his eyes were filled with tears and many emotions, the blond could make out vast amounts of gratefulness.

Leaving all that for later, Naruto turned back to Mikasa. "Mikasa-chan, pull her out as soon as the pillar is off of her!"

"Okay!" Mikasa was immediately by her mother holding her by the shoulders. Carla looked up at her daughter with tears in her eyes, but Mikasa just softly smile back.

Okay, on three!" cried Naruto as Eren and Hannes got ready. "One, two, three!"

The three males exerted as much power as they could, and at first the pillar still didn't move. After a few more seconds, the pillar broke through some of the debris and was off of Carla by a few centimeters. All three males were straining their muscles trying to hold it…

Mikasa knew it was time, and pulled her mother by the arms as hard as she could. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Carla Jäger was finally out…

The woman, along with all others, breathed a hard exhale of relief. Eren and the others dropped the pillar, and the boy instantly ran over and hugged his mother close. The thought of losing his mother was almost too much for the boy to handle, and he wanted to make sure that his mother was actually out in the open and safe.

"K-Kaa-san!" cried the boy as he held his heavily wounded mother.

Carla smiled softly and ran her fingers through her son's hair. "It's okay Eren…" Tears escaped the mothers eyes as she hugged her little boy close; the thought of losing her children was also overwhelming for her. "Mikasa…come here."

The girl tearfully leaned down to her mother and hugged her tightly. "I-I'm glad you're safe, Kaa-san!" Mikasa seldom call Carla mother as she thought it would disrespect her own mother, but in the dire situation she no longer cared.

Naruto smiled at the scene and didn't want to ruin the mood, but Hannes was the more realistic one. "This is not over; we have to get out of here before more Titans come!" Hannes leaned down and picked Carla up into his arms. "I'll take Carla, you take the children!" As carefully as he could, Hannes lifted off with the 3D maneuver, with the heavily wounded mother in his arms.

Naruto quickly flipped Eren onto his back, and lifted Mikasa into his arms, bridal style…

"We have to get behind Wall Rose!" With that, the prince lifted off with the two kids on his back. The gas was barely enough to carry all of them, but thankfully they were all still young and weren't as heavy…

Eren held onto Naruto tightly as they wiped through the air; trying hard to not look at the blood all over town…

Mikasa was feeling much safer than she should be in the situation, but that was because she was sitting in her savior's arms. It may have been a false sense of security, but it offered her mind a moment of peace…

The girl snuggled her face against Naruto's chest. "Thank you, Naruto-san…"

Naruto smiled and held Mikasa tighter. "No problem, Mikasa-chan…"

* * *

The End!

That was the third chapter of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked what I did with it.

**PS. Some people had been asking me about Naruto using Chakra in this story; I will just say that I have made plans for it in future chapters.**

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! XD**


	4. Sacrifice

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 4**

* * *

The Shiganshina District was located at the outer most edge of Wall Maria; it acted an outer bubble to the main wall, and its people need only cross through one inner wall to be safe. The Colossal Titan had only broken through the outer wall of Shiganshina, so as long as people made it into the main area of Wall Maria, they would be safe. The commanding office of Wall Maria had sent out large ships by the river to deliver the people into the main protected area, and the population was slowly being evacuated…

"We have to bring Carla to the other side as soon as possible!" said Hannes as he carried the severely injured woman in his arms. "Let's get on the ships!"

Naruto was right behind the man with Eren and Mikasa walking by his sides. They have almost made it through the gates of Shiganshina; but there were a lot of people waiting for the main entrance and the ships. Children and severely injured civilians were placed in higher priority in the evacuation, so almost everyone would be able to get on the next available ship.

"Don't worry…you'll be on the other side soon", said Naruto soothingly to the two younger children next to him.

Mikasa held onto Naruto's hand as she looked around the crowded area. Never had the expansive land of her home look so barren and deserted; everyone was fighting to get into the inner walls. Some men were complaining about not letting adults onto the ships while glaring at the already frightened children and it made Mikasa a little angry…

All the while, Eren was staring at the 3D maneuvering system strapped onto Naruto's waist. He had seen the efficient technology many times before, but he had never seen someone so young wear it. It was astounding to the boy that someone just a little older than him could already be so strong. Even most of the older and official soldiers couldn't kill any Titans, but Naruto killed one with apparent ease.

"Naruto-san?" started the boy as he looked up at his family's savior.

The blond was broken out of his stupor and looked down at the boy. "What is it, Eren?

"Who taught you how to use that?" asked Eren pointing to the 3D maneuvering system. "I thought you had to be older than a certain age to join the military school?"

Naruto smirked and nodded. "Yes, but I never went to military school; it was an old man back in my home who taught me how to use it", explained the blond as Mikasa, Carla and Hannes listened in. "He was convinced that the Titans would one day break through the walls, so he trained me to get me ready just in case."

_'So this kid really did take down that Titan by himself…' _thought Hannes as he looked at the blond teenager through the corner of his eyes. _'Incredible…if he is so strong now, how strong will he be when he is full grown?'_

"Can you teach me how to use it?!" asked Eren loudly, making his mother and Mikasa looked over at him. "I want to learn how to kill Titans too!"

"EREN!" cried Carla as angrily as she could in her injured state. "You are not going anywhere near those monsters again!" Mikasa was also looked on the scene, but one would be able to see the worry in her eyes.

Eren shook his head. "No, I am definitely going to fight back against those monsters!" The boy turned back to Naruto with a pleading face. "Please Naruto-san, can you teach me?"

Naruto looked down at the boy stoically and patted his head. "Sorry Eren, but if you really want to learn you would have to join the military when you are old enough…" said the young man as Hannes looked on the scene. "Training to use the 3D maneuvering system is very tough, and thinking back, I almost died a few times during training because I was too young…" Eren and Mikasa were both shocked to hear that. "I don't want you to take that unnecessary risk when you have so much time…"

Eren didn't look happy but nodded nonetheless. "Fine…I only have one more year left to wait anyway."

Carla wanted to lash out at her son again, but figured that it was not the time for it. The Titans were still too close in their minds for Eren to think straight; she would wait until they were further away from the traumatizing experience before trying to persuade her son to not join the military…

After another half an hour of waiting in line, the line of ships were finally back on their side. Hannes had placed the children and Carla in the front because of their condition, and they were slowly marched onto the ship. It appeared that there was already a friend of Eren and Mikasa's on the ship; the same one Naruto saw just seconds before the wall was attacked. The prince smiled at the sight of Eren and Mikasa reuniting with their friend; they must have been worried for him too…

"Get on the ship, kid!" said Hannes as he pushed Naruto onto the wooden flooring.

Naruto turned back surprised. "What?" he exclaimed, "I'm not going in yet; I can still help out!"

Eren, Mikasa, and their mother were looking on the scene with interest, they had always thought Naruto would join them in the ship; they had no idea that he wanted to go back and fight. Mikasa was particularly worried for the blond teenager; she was afraid that he won't survive the Titans the second time. She knew full well that Naruto was strong, but she also knew that he was only a teenager and might not be truly ready for the Titans…

Hannes pushed Naruto further into the ship. "You are just a kid…let the soldiers handle the situation; it is too dangerous for you out there!" Seeing that Naruto was about to push back, Hannes raised his hand. "I know you are strong enough to defend yourself, but there are many other people here who can too, so please wait in the inner wall with Mikasa and Eren, they might need you inside."

Mikasa stood and grabbed onto Naruto's arm. "Stay with us, Naruto-san…"

Naruto looked back between the soldier and the girl several times before he recoiled. "Fine…" The main threat was mainly over; if everyone made it over, Wall Maria would still protect them. "I'll get them to safety on the other side."

Hannes smiled and stepped back. "Thanks kid…"

The blond stepped fully onto the ship with the others and walked back to the area where Eren and his mother were lying down. Naruto still had a worried look on his face as he heard repeated shots on cannons being fire above the wall; most likely the soldiers trying to hold the Titans back before the evacuation finished.

"Naruto-kun…" said a weak voice.

Naruto looked down and smiled a little, "Yes, Carla-san?"

Carla bowed despite her condition with tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you so much for saving us…" The woman's legs were a little worse for wear, but she was still alive and well. Just twenty minutes ago, Carla had given up hope for herself and only prayed that her children would be able to live on, but the young man in front of her had saved her entire family.

The blond knelt down as to return the gesture. "No need to thanks me, Carla-san; I just did the right thing."

Carla was genuinely surprised at how mature and righteous Naruto was at his tender age. She had heard about him before when her husband described the boy who killed three men to save Mikasa, but the actually person was not at all like what she'd imagined. At first, Carla thought of the boy as a bit of a monster seeing that he was able to kill other people so easily at such a young age, but all of those thoughts were obliterated when he risked his own life to save them…

"Naruto-san…" said Eren as he sat next to his mother. "This is Armin Arlert; he is Mikasa's and my best friend!" Armin was a boy at about the same age as Mikasa and Eren, but he was shorter. He had blond hair and blue eyes; both in similar shades with Naruto.

"Nice to meet you, Armin…" greeted Naruto as he extended his hand out.

Armin looked a little nervous but reached out to shake the older blond's hand, "Nice to meet you too, sir."

Naruto chuckled as he pulled his hand back. "You don't have to call me "sir"; I am only a little older than you…"

The shorter blond chuckled nervously and nodded. "Okay…Naruto-san."

The prince sat down against the edge of the ship with Mikasa beside him, and the other across from him. The brief moment of peace allowed Naruto to rid his system of shock and fully come to understand the situation at hand. The fact that the Shiganshina District had been compromised had been sit in stone, and it looked like the problem ended there…

The first and foremost threat would definitely be the Colossal Titan that was able to break through the walls; if mankind doesn't deal with it soon, nowhere would be safe. Naruto planned to return to the palace and order the commanders of Wall Maria to immediately collect enough material to strengthen the other walls; they had to do everything in their power to prevent another leakage; religious heads be damned.

"Naruto-san…" said a sudden voice from next to the prince, "Are you okay?"

Naruto stopped thinking about the situation at hand and smiled at Mikasa with a nod. "I'm fine, what about you?"

The girl nodded with a smile. "I'm fine, thanks to you again…"

The prince really started to grow fond of Mikasa's smiles; they were truly beautiful. "You can always count on me, Mikasa-chan."

Suddenly, some loud rumbling caught the attention of Naruto, and the others soon noticed it as well. Looking down at the river, the blond saw that even the flowing water were showing signs of tiny shockwaves being sent through it. The prince stood up and looked back towards the gate of Shiganshina, and noticed that the rumbling was getting increasingly louder.

"What is that?" asked Eren as he stood up and walked beside Naruto.

Naruto shook his head with a worried expression. "I have no idea…"

Mikasa walked back over to her mother who was still forced to sit on the floor of the ship, and held her hands; it was a comforting gesture from the daughter to the mother. Armin likewise did the same thing with his grandfather. Soon everyone on the ship and the people on land were looking over at the direction of the gate…

Naruto had a very unsettling feeling in his heart as his hands grabbed onto the railings of the ship…

_'That rumbling…they're footsteps!'_

Suddenly, within a second, a deafening explosion could be heard from the gate along with a large dust cloud that gathered around the wall. The loud impact nullified any sound that was going into Naruto's ears for a few seconds, with a chilling high pitched whistle. But despite the pain he felt in his ears, Naruto's eyes remained locked on the dust cloud as he saw something that shocked him…

It was some kind of Titan…but it was like nothing he had ever seen before; in textbooks or otherwise. The dust still clouded most of its body, but it's obvious, yet unusual muscular build revealed itself blatantly. There was also something about its skin…it appeared to be _plated_ somehow. But before anyone could see its full appearance, it seemingly disappeared like the Colossal Titan from before. Naruto would have been really worried, but he saw something that was much more disturbing…

"I don't believe it…" whispered Naruto to himself in disbelief, "It broke through the wall…"

The many soldiers that had been organizing the situation were running away from the hundreds of Titans that were rushing through the gate. The people waiting by the docks were jumping onto the already packed ships while crying out for help. Mothers, who knew that the ships were already packed, threw their children onto the ships hoping that they would survive, and some of them were already caught by the incoming Titans…

Mikasa and Eren were shaking in shock as they stood beside Naruto; it was an entirely different situation. Unlike before, when the Titans were only loose in Shiganshina, they were loose in the whole of Wall Maria, the largest human occupied area. The nightmare just amplified by a hundred fold; the devastation this will cause would be incomprehensible.

_'Wall Maria…is breached?' _thought Naruto on shock inwardly. _'What will happen now?'_

Naruto's fingers were tempting to use his 3D maneuvering system to kill the Titans coming into the human area, but he knew that it would be ineffective. The main priority should be to evacuate as many people as they can through to the inner wall. The prince was having a huge inner debate as his fingers twitched as he held his blades tightly…

The prince could still feel someone holding into his right arm, and when he looked down he saw that it was Mikasa. The girl's eyes were locked onto the carnage that was happening a few miles away from them, and her hands were shaking a little. Naruto looked around at the others on the ship, and they were all in similar states. There were many children sitting on the ground a little ways from Carla, and they were all in tears while thinking about their parents who were probably dead…

There were also the soldiers. The most powerful humans around were all falling back, and the one guarding the ships were huddling around like a normal civilian…

_'We were not ready…we can't beat them now.'_

For the first time in his life, Naruto had no idea how to react to the situation. There was nothing he could do; every soldier in sight was cowering away from the Titans; the very beings they were trained to fight against. The towering monsters struck indescribable fear into every human in sight, and now that they had allies who could break through the walls, it would be impossible for the humans to come out victorious…

_'What is this feeling?' _thought Naruto to himself as he looked down at his blade. _'Why is my hand shaking?'_

True to his thoughts, the usually steady blade in Naruto's left hand was shaking. Naruto was scared. It was the only logical explanation the prince could give to himself, but it was also the most unacceptable.

_'How can I be scared…I wasn't scared before?' _mumbled Naruto inwardly as he thought back to the three Titans he killed during the first fall of Shiganshina. _"Is it because now that I know the walls are useless…I've given up on victory?' _Naruto looked down at his other hand, and saw that it was not shaking at all. It confused him a little at first, but then he realized that it was because of Mikasa…

The girl's hands felt warm around his arm, and it oddly gave him a sense of serenity. The situation was far too vast for Naruto to comprehend in such short time, and Mikasa's gentle touch offered him the chance to block other thoughts from his mind. The prince didn't want to think about the situation now…so he focused on the girl beside him, and the comfort that she could offer to him; she allowed the prince to escape his torrent of seemingly everlasting thoughts by letting him concentrate on her.

"Mikasa-chan…" whispered the prince as the girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

With a blank expression, Naruto pulled the girl into his arms and hugged her as close as possible. He wanted to block everything out of his mind except for Mikasa; he focused all his senses on the one thing on his mind. From that moment on, Naruto only heard Mikasa's quick breathing; only saw her midnight black hair; only took in her light scent of cherries; only felt her soft cheek pressed against his own.

Unknown to Naruto, he was extending the exact same courtesy to Mikasa…

* * *

_"My son…" _said a booming erethral feminine voice from all directions. _'It is time…it is time for you to awaken your true power!'_

Naruto had never felt so at peace ever before in his life. There was absolutely no weight on his body; it was as if he was floating in midair. Slowly, the prince opened his eyes and cringed at the bright light that surrounded him.

"Where am I?" asked the boy to no one in particular.

The prince's eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, and saw the stunning scenery in full. It was in paradise. His body was floating in the middle of a large lake with water as clear as the cloudless blue sky. Hundreds of healthy green trees surrounded the small lake as birds flew from branch to branch. Something was tickling the sides of Naruto's body, and he looked through the corner of his eyes to find out it was several small fish that had found an interest in his floating body…

The best thing was that there was not one Titan in sight; everything was pure serenity and peace. There were only sounds of nature around him; the birds' chirping, the wind blowing through the tree leaves, the soft brushing of soft waves on the lake, and the distant whistle of a sole piece of grass…

Then there was one last thing…the white erethral silhouette in the sky.

_"My son…"_

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked up at the silhouette that he heard speak in a powerful and loving voice.

"Who are you?" The soft twinkling in the silhouette gave Naruto a warm and nurturing feeling; it was something very peculiar that he had never felt before in his life.

_"I am your mother…_ _Ōtsutsuki Kaguya"_

Naruto was once again surprised, but found himself believing the deity's voice without question. The young man was a very rational person, and wouldn't usually believe in something so odd so quickly, but there was something about the voice that made him believe unconditionally. The voice also sounded very familiar…it was as if he's heard it many times before…or every night in his sleep.

"You're my Okaa-sama?"

A soft humming sound came from the silhouette, which made Naruto think of the beautiful smile on the large portrait of his mother back in the palace…

_"Yes, and I'm so happy to finally meet you", _said the voice with clear happiness in her tone. _"Even though I never got to hold you when you were born, I've been watching over you ever since, and I am so proud of you…"_

Naruto felt happy and warm after listening to the voice; it felt very nurturing and loving. The prince had always wanted to hear his mother's voice for himself, and he had given up on the seemingly impossible hope, but it seemed that it was possible after all.

_"I would love to talk with you every day, my son, but unlike yours, my powers have limits, and I can only go on for another few seconds…" _Naruto was confused about what the voice was talking about, but listened on either way; he wanted to savor the warmth of the voice. _"I was born a normal human, and I achieved transcendence by cheating the **Shinju (God Tree)**, but you were born with the power of the Shinju flowing through your veins, and you shall become more powerful than any other being in the world."_

Naruto was not in his right mind and couldn't find the intellectual power to process his mother's words. From Naruto's perspective, all he was aware of was the voice speaking to him. His mind was focusing on the serenity and love it carried for him, but was partially ignoring the factual details…

But suddenly, the world around Naruto started to fade away…

"Wait!" exclaimed the prince. "Don't go I don't want you to leave!"

_"I will appear to you again, my son, but my power is running out today." _The voice sounded a little sad. _"Remember what I said to you…and know that I will always love you."_

"WAIT!" cried Naruto as he extended his hand up to the sky…but nothing changed as darkness surround him again.

* * *

"WAIT!" Naruto opened his eyes in shock as light filled his surroundings again.

Just like the past two weeks, Naruto had woken up in a storage area within Wall Rose, and he was growing sick of it with every passing day. It was still very early in the morning, and from what he remembered, it had only been two hours since he fell asleep. The stress and burdens of reality came rushing back to Naruto, and the peace he felt in his dream was completely gone.

_'All this bullshit is giving me weird dreams…'_

Looking around him, Naruto saw that the storage area was pretty much barren; everyone was outside preparing for morning. It would be a day that would be remembered as long as humans remained in the world, and it would be a day that Naruto would forever feel guilty about…

"N-Naruto…" whispered a soft voice from beside the prince, and he looked down to see Mikasa sleeping peacefully in her sleeping bag.

The blond stared at the girl he had grown very close to in the past two weeks and felt a small tug in his heart…

_"This may be the last time I will ever see her…'_

With a sigh, Naruto got out of his sleeping bag and started to equip himself of his weapons and gear. After a week of paranoia and anguish, it was finally time…

* * *

_Flashback starts…_

_"Naruto-san, are you okay?!" asked a worried voice from behind him, and the prince looked higher to see Mikasa standing above him._

_Reality came rushing back to Naruto as he saw where he was sleeping in; it was a food storage that was already barren due to the sudden influx of people storming into Wall Rose. The children were organized to sleep in sleeping bags in the storage area while the adults had to find their own shelter. Luckily, Carla was injured so she was allowed a bed inside the closest hospital. For the past week, Naruto had been the one to take care of Eren, Armin, and Mikasa._

_"I-I'm fine…" muttered the prince as he sat up and rubbed his eyes._

_"We have to get going soon…" said Armin as he walked toward his friends. "Eren is waiting for us over there."_

_Mikasa nodded and stood up fully. "What is happening over there, aren't we going farming like usual?" The refugees of Wall Maria had been tasked to cultivate as much available land to increase the food reserves, but no one really knew if it was helping at all._

_Armin shrugged. "I don't know, there is sort of announcement from the government."_

_Naruto stood up and stretched his arms; the prince was still in his combat clothes, which consisted of a black shirt under a black vest, and a pair of black pants. His blades were by his side, as well as the 3D maneuvering system._

_"The government, why are the here?" asked Naruto to himself as he walked over to his friends._

_The prince had planned to travel back to the palace as soon as Carla would be able to look after the children so he could help the government with the contingency plan, but it seemed that a decision had been made without him._

_The group of three walked over to the large courtyard close to the storage, and saw that a huge group of people had already gathered there. There was a platform built in front of the crowd and there seemed to be some sort of government official waiting for a proper attendance. Eren had saved a few spots of his friends on the side of the yard, so the group walked over there to await the upcoming announcement._

_"Eren…" said Naruto as he walked over to the boy. "Did they say what the announcement was about?"_

_The boy shook his head as he leaned back against a wall. "No, they've been standing up there for a while now, and haven't said anything."_

_Armin sighed as he looked up at the platform. "Let's hope it's something good…"_

_The slight feedback from the mic on the platform silenced almost all conversations in the crowd instantly, and made everyone look up at the speaker. The man was wearing a rather expensive looking business suit and had a disturbed look on his face, which already made Naruto worry a little. From the attire, the prince deduced that the man was sent from the internal law society, an organization that answers directly to the King…_

**_"Hello everyone…" _**_started the man through the loud speakers.** "I am Saito Matsuda, the representative of the King's law society, and am here to announce the newest decree created by his royal highness!"**_

_Armin grew very interested and stepped up a little. "Wow, made by the King himself…"_

_Naruto narrowed his eyes at the mention of his useless father making a decree. 'What is that old geezer doing now?'_

**_"It has come to our attention that with the sudden influx of people from Wall Maria into Wall Rose, it would be impossible to gather enough food for everyone for longer than one month!" _**_Eren and Mikasa grew worried at the man's words. **"If the situation continues, the government predicts that there will be serious repercussions in the future, so we must settle this matter as soon as possible!"**_

_Eren nudged Mikasa by the elbow. "Do you think they are letting some people into Wall Sina or something?"_

_Mikasa shrugged. "I honestly have no idea…"_

**_"The King's solution for this problem is to launch a large scale campaign to retake Wall Maria!" _**_A loud murmur traveled through the crowd as every grew wary of what was to come next. **"The honorable task of reclaiming our lost land rests upon the 250,000 refugees that originate from Wall Maria!"**_

_A huge commotion immediately broke out, and the soldiers along the sides of the platform drew their swords at the refugees. The spokesperson staggered back to the back of the platform with tears rolling down his eyes; he really didn't want to say such evil words to the others, but he was under strict orders from the central government._

_"W-What did they say?" whispered out Eren as he looked at the platform with widened eyes._

_"Oji-chan…" muttered Armin as he grew extremely worried for his grandfather._

_Mikasa frowned at the imposing news and looked over at Naruto. "Naruto-san…"_

_The children looked over at the older teenager and were shocked to see the look of utter rage on his face. The prince was shaking in anger at the outrageous decree and wanted nothing more than to kill every single guard threatening to kill the refugees. Naruto had honestly never been so mad in his entire live. He was raging at the Titans, his father, the government, and himself._

_Naruto's hand was grasping the golden medallion under his shirt, and was tempted to expose himself as the prince and heir apparent of humanity. If he were to do so, he would be able to at least stall the operation for as long as possible, but in the end it would be no use. It was a decree directly ordered by the King himself; even though he was the prince, he would have absolutely no authority over his father…_

_Then there was the one thing that made Naruto utterly livid…_

_He was starting to agree with the decree. His father was correct…using the refugees to fight for Wall Maria would be the best contingency plan for the entirety of humanity. For one, Wall Maria had the most people; they were used to the geography; they had the motivation to fight, and it would solve the food shortage problem._

_The prince was shaken out of his stupor when the spokesperson walked up to the front again. **"C-Children and severely injured refugees will not be subjugated to fight, but that is based on the day you all check in…any self-imposed injuries from now on will be considered treason!"**_

_The voice of the spokesperson would forever be engraved into Naruto's mind…_

_Flashback end…_

* * *

Naruto finished dressing himself for battle and looked down at the three children he had been looking after for their mother and grandfather. The prince had really grown fond of the few kids; especially Mikasa who had grown very attached to him as well. The group was really shook up with the government's plan to retake Wall Maria; especially Armin because his grandfather was ordered to fight as well…

Mikasa and Eren were not as devastated because Carla was still in the hospital and would be able to walk for a long while, so she was safe. But nonetheless, the kids had gathered a lot of frustration in the past week; everyone they knew around the refugee area would most likely die, and it bothered them greatly.

Naruto hadn't spoken about the attempt to retake Wall Maria ever since the spokesperson announced it, so none of the kids expect him to join into the battle, which was for the best. Knowing them, especially Mikasa, they would never allow him to rush into a suicidal battle alone, and would probably try to follow him, so it was a right choice to keep it a secret…

The prince looked down at Mikasa and felt very sad that he would probably never see her again…

"Goodbye Mikasa-chan…" whispered Naruto softly as he leaned down to kiss the girl on her forehead.

With that Naruto left the storage and headed towards the front of Wall Rose…

But unknown to Naruto, Armin woke up the moment he left…

"Naruto-san?"

* * *

The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Naruto stood on top of Wall Rose with his arms crossed across his chest. Unlike the usual days, the top of the wall was void of any garrison guards. Almost every soldier that belonged to Wall Rose was guarding the large group of refugees that were about to be dispatched into Wall Maria. The prince stare into the dim orange glow that started to light up his land, and for a few seconds, he was wondering what was beyond the horizon…

From where he was standing, Naruto had a very clear view of the land of Wall Maria; the very same land he spent the last two years of his life trying to fix. With his effort, the crime rates and poverty levels within Wall Maria had dropped to an all-time low, but all that was apparently for naught. In one day, the Titans devoured over 10,000 people within Wall Maria, and rendered all his efforts moot.

It baffled Naruto that life and society could be so fragile…

The sound of the main gate of Wall Rose opening could be heard, and Naruto looked down the steep wall. The soldiers of who were originally stationed in Wall Maria led the way on their horses; giving them a last chance for glory. Everyone had somber and hopeless expressions on their faces; having all come to the fact that they were to die for their world…

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed…before he slowly fell to his knees. For the next three minutes, Naruto prayed silently for his people; for the people who he was supposed to protect; for the people he had failed. Already, the cries of fear and anguish filled the air as the Titans started to feast of the thousands of human sacrifices…it was as if the King was offering his people to a higher being, and it made Naruto sick.

"I'm sorry…" muttered Naruto to himself as he bowed until his forehead touched the ground. "As your prince I was unable to protect any of you…" The cries continued to get louder as more and more Titans flooded into the area, and all Naruto heard from the Wall Rose side was the main gate closing. "But I will not stand idly by as you all sacrifice your lives for our sake…"

The prince opened his eyes and showed his palpable determination to the world…

"I will fight alongside all of you!" With that, Naruto jumped off of the wall and swung down to the ground using his 3D Maneuvering System.

Naruto felt oddly calm as he ran towards what many others would call an imminent doom, and slowly everything around him turned silent. The prince's eyes stared into the soulless eyes of two Titans right in front of him as they devoured one human after another. Using his own steady heartbeat to guide _his footsteps, Naruto shot his cable at the Titan on the right side and used it as leverage…_

_"Why do you want to learn how to kill Titans, Naruto-sama?" asked Dallis Zacklay five years ago when Naruto first approached him._

_"You said that they would one day break through the walls, so I want to learn how to protect my people from them…" said the young prince matter-of-factly back then._

Naruto could still remember the small smile that came onto his teacher's face when he heard what he said, and it told him that he was on the right track to becoming a great Kind. But it seemed to Naruto that he would never have that chance…

The prince's blade sliced through one Titan's neck as he zipped through the city from roof to roof…

_"Onii-sama, come play with me!" cried a little girl as she ran up to Naruto with a smile only a child could muster._

_Naruto ran up and lifted his little sister into her arms and kissed her lovingly on the cheek. The prince truly loved the little girl, and wanted nothing more than for her to live a peaceful and fulfilling life…_

_"Sure, Hikari-chan!"_

"I'm sorry Hikari-chan…" thought the prince as he cut down another Titan. "I might not make it back by our three year mark…"

Naruto could feel his strength leave his body as he pushed himself beyond his limits. He had no idea how many minutes have passed since he jumped into battle, or how many miles he had traveled through, or how many Titans he had killed…all he knew was that he had to keep going.

A fifteen meter Titan charged at Naruto at its full speed, and its mouth was enough to swallow the prince whole three times over. They were in an alleyway, and Naruto didn't have enough room to swing above the buildings to his sides. The blond reacted quickly and shot his cable directly into the Titan's opened mouth, and pulled himself forward at full speed. All Naruto noticed was that the Titan's mouth really stunk as his blades carved through the back of its throat. The prince made sure to destroy the nape of the Titan's neck as he tore out of it, and he barely managed to land on the ground safely as the fifteen meter monster fell backwards…

_"Can you stay with us, Naruto-san?" asked a slightly flustered Mikasa as she handed him some bread. "We really like having you with us…"_

_Naruto smiled down at the girl and patted her head. "Of course…I really like having you three with me as well!"_

_Mikasa sent Naruto one of her seldom bright smiles and nodded. "Thank you…I feel very safe when you are around."_

_The prince was surprised to hear the girl say that out loud, but was happy nonetheless. "You might not think so, Mikasa-chan, but you make me feel safe as well."_

_The girl blushed and looked up at her savior with a smile. "Then we should stay together so we can both feel safe…"_

_Naruto smiled and nodded. "I would love that…"_

"I'm sorry Mikasa-chan…" muttered Naruto to himself as he twisted his body in midair to dodge a powerful hand from another fifteen meter Titan. "But you are going to learn to protect yourself…I won't be there anymore."

The prince felt weak…he was down to his last two blades and his gas was almost depleted. With the last of his strength, Naruto fell from a tall tower and sliced through the neck of the Titan. But Naruto found that he was falling to the ground faster than the Titan was…and like the Titan, he was dying.

The incoming footsteps of several Titans could be heard in front of Naruto, but he couldn't find the strength to stand up anymore. All he felt was the pain and fatigue in his joints, and the burning sensation of having steaming Titan blood all over his body…

Naruto's blue eyes strained to look up at the monster that was about to devour him…there was no fear in his eyes; the price would not allow the mindless creature the pleasure of seeing him cower. He would welcome death with pride; if 250,000 others were strong enough to sacrifice themselves for the sake of humanity, then at was the least he could do…

The giant hand of the Titan was reaching down for the prince…

"Hahahahahaha…" laughed Naruto as he felt the heat of the Titan coming closer. "I hope you have a strong stomach, because I will cut through it!" cried out Naruto with the last ounce of his strength…

…but before the Titan could actually touch him…something very fast sliced through its neck.

Naruto was shocked to see the Titan fall to the ground in front of him, and noticed a man standing on top of its head…

"You got guts kid…but I am cutting your battle short."

All the prince really noticed was the green cape on the man's back with the "Wings of Freedom" insignia on it.

* * *

The End!

This was a hard chapter for me to write, but I hope you all enjoyed it!

I gave a big hint about Naruto's connection with chakra in this chapter, and the people following the lastest chapters of the Naruto manga would know exactly what I am talking about! :P

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! XD**


	5. Military Academy

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 5 **

* * *

The main hospital in Trost was one of the most prominent medical faculties in human occupied space, and it's most secured and advance room was currently hosting one of the most important people in the world. The doctors and nurses of the hospital had seen many strange things occur during their time at work, but never had they seen something so out of the ordinary…

In the high-class singe-patient room, many luxuries would be provided. There would be a chilled carafe of lemon water on the side of the bed, multiple vases of fresh cut flowers along the tables on the sides of the room, and hand-crafted wooden sculptures as décor. But as the doctors and nurses walked into the room, they saw a sight that they would never forget…

While their young patient was still unconscious on his bed, many things were happening around him. The carafe of water was boiling uncontrollably as the lemon jumped around inside the glass; the flowers were constantly blooming, then died, and blossomed again within a few minutes, and the wooden art had buds of leaves suddenly grow out of their bodies.

"W-What is this?!" cried one of the nurses as she back away from the room.

The main doctor of the hospital looked very concerned as he looked back at his subordinates. "Please go tell the two gentlemen about this…"

"Hai!" responded one of the younger doctors as he and a couple of nurses retreated back to the lower levels of the building.

The main doctor's eyes remained locked onto the strange things happening in the room, and somehow tried to convince himself that they all had something to do with the young man sleeping soundly on the bed. The patient was checked into the hospital a few hours ago by several higher-ups of the military, and they ordered the hospital to treat the young man as their highest priority, so the doctor could safely assume that the blond was someone special…

The glass windows on the side of the room was starting to shake violently, and in another few seconds there were cracks emerging at the center of it. The doctor's eyes widened as he immediately rushed into the room and pulled the windows opened before the glass would shatter. While he might have saved the patient from being severely injured by shards of glass, he was not prepared for the strong gust of wind that blasted into the room the instant he opened in the window.

"AAHHHH!" cried the elderly doctor as he was flung to the far side of the room. The man's head hit the wall quite hard and was almost knocked out, but he could still see the strange things in the room before his dim eyes.

The wind coursed through the room like a whirlwind, and it tore through almost everything in the room except for the bed located at the very center. The wind seemed to be revolving around the patient of the bed and acted as some sort of barrier to the outside world. At this point, every other strange phenomenon in the room seemed to have been amplified, and got even more out of control. The flowers were broken out of their glass vases, and despite not having soil for their roots, continued to grow; it was growing to the point where it was a few times larger than its original size. The wooden art no longer resembled anything of the result their creators' intention, and looked more like small trees. Then the water in the carafe was nearly evaporated, and the heat caused the glass chamber to be blown to bits across the room…

This was the scene the two men who brought the young man into the hospital were greeted with when they arrived…

"What is going on here?!" cried the taller of the two men loudly over the loud havoc happening in the room.

The doctor was covering his face with his hands to prevent small pieces of glass from harming him. "I have no idea…this just randomly started!"

The shorter of the two men rushed into the room and pulled the doctor onto his back. "This is crazy…" he mumbled as he ran out of the dangerous and spontaneous room. "…I never thought this would happen…is this some sort of supernatural shit; I've never seen anything like this before."

The tall man brushed his short blond hair with his fingers as he focused on the young man on the bed. "Is he doing this?" he asked as he saw how peaceful the patient seemed to be.

The doctor was breathing heavily on the ground as he looked up at the two men. "I really don't have a clue; we were about to check on him, and when we came into the room all these strange things started to happen!"

The short man stepped closer to the door to get a better look at the patient. "None of these things are affecting the guy…it's like these things are trying to protect him from his surroundings."

"Do you mean he's controlling this?" asked the tall man.

The other man sighed and rubbed his temples. "I don't know…but I sure wasn't expecting anything like this."

Suddenly, everything started to calm down. The men looked around to see if there was anything or anyone that somehow turned everything off, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. The flowers stopped their continuous growth and the wood stopped manifesting in the room. Everything was suddenly quiet, and the only sound the men could hear was the soft and steady breathing of the patient on the bed…

"Okay…this is some weird shit!"

* * *

_'Where am I?' _thought the young man on the bed as he started to gain consciousness.

The young man didn't remember what happened to him at first, but the memories rushed into his mind as he tried to think back to the last thing he can remember. The "Wings of Freedom" insignia was still vividly clear in Naruto's mind; the morning light at the time made it very clear. It was someone in the Scouting Legion that had saved him, and Naruto wanted to thank whoever it was, but he didn't know if they were alive anymore.

Focusing on his touch, Naruto noticed that it wasn't lying on the hard ground, but on a soft bed and the delicate scent of roses passed by his nose as he breathed in some clean air. Naruto deduced that he was indoors and was in a room of some sort. His surroundings were silent, and the only sound he could he was his own steady breath.

Straining his body a little, Naruto opened his eyes and saw a white roof…

_'Is this the hospital?' _

"So, you're finally awake, huh?" said a sudden voice that ripped through the quiet room. "You've been sleeping for ten hours…"

Naruto felt the pain in his neck as he turned to look at the direction of the voice, and he saw a short, black haired man looking at him with an apathetic expression on his face. He had straight and short black hair and piercing blue eyes that Naruto's couldn't read. The one thing that stood out the most about the man was the green cape on his back with the "Wings of Freedom" insignia on it…

"It's you…" whispered Naruto with a hoarse voice.

The man was leaning against the wall of the room with his arms crossed as he raised an eyebrow. "You recognize me? I thought you were unconscious when I got there."

Naruto closed his eyes for several seconds as a bad headache struck him. "Where am I?"

"You are in a hospital in the Trost District…" said a new and steady voice from the front of the room. "We brought you here after Levi rescued you…we made it in good time, so you should be."

The prince's eyes looked down at the end of his bed and saw a tall blond man wearing the same uniform as the man who saved him from before. He had a strong jaw and a rather emotionless face. Naruto knew he had seen the man somewhere before, but he couldn't recall when or where…

"Who are you?" asked the prince weakly.

The man walked to the side of the bed and looked down at the young man. "I am Erwin Smith, the Commander of the Scouting Legion." Naruto's widened in recognition, he had seen the man when he was reporting something to Dallis a few years back. "And this is Levi, a Captain of the Scouting Legion."

Despite the pain throughout his body, Naruto pushed himself higher along the bed and rested his back against the headboard. Looking down at himself, Naruto saw that most of his chest was covered in bandages, probably because of the cuts he got when he fell to the ground. Other than that the prince couldn't really feel any more wounds on his body; there was only a little bit of pain in his legs.

Looking around the room, Naruto didn't find anything strange…everything was neat and tidy.

"Why did you save me?" asked the blond as he looked up at the two men. "I was a refugee from Wall Maria, and was under order to help retake the place from the Titans…"

Levi stood up fully and walked up to his commander. "You are just a kid, so you weren't condemned to fight, and I decided to save you before you were killed", said the man with a flat voice. "After all, it's not every day I see a kid taking down eleven Titans on his own…"

"Eleven, huh?" pondered Naruto mostly to himself as he looked down at his bandaged hands. "I wasn't really counting myself…"

Levi's eyes looked into the lowered blue eyes of Naruto's own. _'This is one weird kid…when he's awake he's strong enough to take down nearly a dozen Titans without any help, and when he's asleep he can make all this weird shit happen…just what is he?' _

Naruto grew a little wary of the short man staring at him, but decided to disregard it because he had other questions in mind. "Is the fight in Wall Maria over?"

Levi scoffed a little. "There was no fight; it was a massacre…almost everyone died; there were about one hundred who survived."

The prince's eyes widened as he sat up fully. "What?!" he cried out in shock. "Only one hundred out of two-hundred and fifty thousand men survived?!"

Erwin nodded with an emotionless expression on his face. "Yes…"

Naruto glared at Levi as he disregarded his pain. "Then how many people did you save beside me?"

Levi shook his head. "You are the only one we saved…it was a violation of the King's decree for us to pass into Wall Maria during the fight."

"So why did you choose to save me at all…aren't you afraid that the King will execute you?" asked Naruto with an edge in his tone.

Erwin cleared his throat and walked closer to the bed. "I'm sure the King would forgive us for breaking the rules if it meant saving his heir from dying…"

Naruto's mouth grew dry at the sudden announcement. "How do you know who I am?…"

"I've seen you once a few years ago when I was reporting to General-Commander Dallis…you were training at the time and we were never properly introduced." The Commander of the Scouting Legion looked over at his best man as they both fell to their knees. "But it is great to officially meet you, Naruto-sama!"

The prince chuckled lightly as he shook his head. "You already know my name…"

Erwin nodded with his head down. "Yes…I am quite familiar with the names of the royal family, and the Lion Medallion around your neck also suggested a lot of information about you.

Naruto remained silent as he looked down at his birthright, which was strapped around his neck. The Lion was his official symbol; one he was granted by his Father on the day he was born. His younger brother was given the Eagle, and his sister was given the Tiger. The Lion Medallion had precedence over the other two Medallions, and was the greatest power in humanity beside the King himself…

"I will say now that I want my identity hidden…" muttered the prince with a low voice.

Erwin nodded. "I understand Naruto-sama…Levi and I will be the only two to know of your presence."

Naruto sighed and nodded. "Be at ease…I've never liked people bowing to me."

"Hai!"

The two men got back on their feet and stood by the side of the bed. Levi was still looking down at the prince with a blank expression, and Erwin was looking a little concerned. The young man in front of them was the future King of Humanity, and presently the second most powerful man in the world. With the medallion around his neck, he could have everyone in the Scouting Legion killed before sunset…so they had to tread carefully.

"Relax…" suddenly spoke Naruto with a smirk on his face. "I'm not like your usual royal asshole…just say what you want, I won't kill you for it."

Erwin cleared his throat and nodded. "Then if I may, Naruto-sama, can I please inquire why you are outside of Wall Sina in the first place?"

Naruto exhaled slowly as he rested his back against the headboard fully. "Ever since I was very young I've wanted to become a great King for my people, and I always thought that I would be able to learn how by studying with my dozens of teachers in the palace…but I soon learnt that it was not true." The prince smiled a little at looked up at the two men. "I needed to see the real world with my own eyes; I wanted to find the truth of my people by myself…so I left the palace and Wall Sina two years ago to really learn about my people."

Levi was a little surprised, but didn't show it. "So you've been out here for two years already..." muttered the man with a bored voice. "What have you learned so far…Wall Sina is a lot different compared to what's out here."

Naruto chuckled. "No need to sugarcoat anything for me…I've seen almost everything in these two long years." The prince looked up and saw that Levi didn't really look convinced. "When I left the palace, I brought along with me a thick binder that contained the assumed locations of every loose criminal on record, and I managed to exterminate almost all of them."

Erwin's eyes actually widened by the tiniest fraction as Levi continued to look down at his future leader. "You mean you are the Purge?!" exclaimed Erwin quite loudly.

"I was never very fond of that moniker, but yes…I'm the Purge." Despite their outward appearances, Levi and Erwin were both shocked to hear such talk; the Purge had been responsible for lowering over 50% of the crime rates in Wall Maria, and over 25% in Wall Rose. The Purge had become a legend within Humanity, and many people called him a hero that should replace the King and the Royal family. How ironic that the Purge was actually the heir apparent of the King himself.

Levi finally decided to voice himself. "So that was why you were so adamant about fighting in Wall Maria…you wanted to protect the place you created from your hard work." Naruto just looked over to the side of the wall as he heard this. "I understand…it must make you livid that after so much hard work, the beautiful and peaceful place you created was invaded by the Titans."

Naruto nodded. "I think I am feeling what everyone should be feeling…I understand that people before the fall of Wall Maria would be satisfied with living within these walls since they've never seen any Titans for seen them feed on humans…but now everyone should be angry." The prince glared down at his hands. "The Titans destroyed our lives and dreams…they devoured our family and trampled over our homes…but still I find people who wouldn't mind as long as they can live peacefully in the inner walls."

Erwin nodded. "Yes…we often see the same thing, and it explains why the Scouting Legion is by far the smallest legion in pure numbers."

"I'm going to join the Scouting Legion!" announced the prince as he looked up at the two men.

Levi smirked as Erwin stepped forward more. "As the commander of the Scouting Legion I am honored that our future leader wants to join, but keep in mind Naruto-sama, the Scouting Legion is the most dangerous occupation possible right now, and you are someone that is irreplaceable in this world!"

Naruto continued to look up at the man. "I know that a running government is important to Humanity, but I rank dealing with the Titans at an even higher priority…there is no point of my succeeding the throne if the Titans could just break down wall after wall effortlessly." The prince ripped of his medallion from his neck and held it in his hand. "I know I can be of help…so just as another human being living in this world, can I join the Scouting Legion?"

Erwin admired the prince's passion and devotion to his people; something everyone in the world needed more of. "Yes, Naruto-sama…it would be an honor to work with you, I know that with your help the Scouting Legion will reach new heights!" Erwin looked over at Levi with a small smile. "I will place you in Levi's elite unit!"

"But there is one problem…" interrupted Levi as the two other people looked over at him.

"What is it?" asked Erwin wondering what could be wrong.

Levi sighed and leaned his side against the wall. "I know Naruto-sama is strong enough to be in the Scouting Legion right now, in fact, he is good enough to be in my Special Operatives Unit, but the problem is he looks too young."

Naruto raised any eyebrow, "Too young?"

Levi nodded. "Yes…regular graduates from the academy is at least fifteen years old, and at least eighteen if I were to normally accept them into my unit, so a fourteen year old kid join my team would be very conspicuous." Naruto and Erwin nodded a little at the deduction. "Then there is another thing…for one to join our forces the must be certified by the military academy, and while I'm sure Naruto-sama can get one easily with his power, he wouldn't because he wants to hide his true identity…"

The prince sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Can't you two just forge one for me…as a captain and a commander that shouldn't be too hard?"

"Normally it wouldn't be, but this is the Scouting Legion, and we have a rule that we must document everything because the death tolls are incredibly high…it would be painfully obvious if we were to forge one, especially at a time like this", explained Erwin as he leaned back in thought.

Naruto sighed. "I can join the academy…but I've done training like theirs when I was eight years old."

"Yes, but how about we place you inside the academy as an assistant instructor?" asked Erwin with a smile on his face. "Not only would it be a way for you to get certified, I also think it would get you accustomed to being a leader…you've been working solo for a while so it's going to take time for you to get used to working in teams as well as leading them."

"Really, they're going to let a fourteen year old kid teach the new recruits?" asked the prince a little dubious.

"If we are the ones vouching for your skills, yes, they would let you teach."

The prince sighed and leaned back. "Whatever…at least it would give me some time to train."

Erwin smiled. "Okay…I'll bring you over to the academy when you are back to full health."

"Okay…"

* * *

The recruitment center for new soldiers was a little ways from Eren and Mikasa's new home in Trost with their recovering mother. It was finally the day when the military school was taking in new students, and after some last minute tear filled persuasion, Mikasa was walking with her foster brother to the school. They were both dressed in military training uniforms, and it looked quite good on both of them.

It has been a year since the breach of Wall Maria, and their lives were once again starting a new phase; military training. Eren had been most adamant about attending the school, and no matter how much his mother tried to talk him out of it, he remained determined to get back at the Titans; especially since their father had suddenly disappeared after the initial attack...

"Hey Armin!" cried Eren as he saw his best friend further down the road.

The blond boy smiled and walked over to meet up with his two friends, "Hey Eren, Mikasa...are you two ready?"

Mikasa merely nodded silently as Eren smirked. "I've been ready for a long time already; it's time us to fight back!"

Armin knew Eren would be fine, but was a little concern about Mikasa. Ever since half a year ago, when Naruto was gone missing, Mikasa had become even more stoic and silent than before, and it concerned her family quite a bit. Eren knew that Naruto was Mikasa's pillar of strength and hero, so he could understand why his apparent death would affect her so much; especially since they grew very close during the first week together.

Armin saw the obvious changes in Mikasa as well; especially since he was the one who told her that Naruto might have gone to fight in the mission to retake Wall Maria. The boy would never forget how Mikasa's face had turned completely emotionless in a split second before she broke into tears. The others knew that the girl still had faith that Naruto was alive, but also knew that the numbers were against them; only about one hundred people survived out of the two-hundred and fifty thousand refugees sent into battle.

"The meeting starts in twenty minutes…we should hurry", said Mikasa in a stoic voice as she led the way to the military training camp.

Eren and Armin chatted along as they walked to the place that will change their lives forever, but Mikasa was in a little world of her own. The girl had one hand holding the beautiful necklace Naruto gave her when he saved her life for the first time, and it offered her some peace of mind in her dark times. It has been several months since the last time she had seen Naruto, but there hadn't been one day that she wouldn't think about him.

In their one week together, Mikasa had really grown attached to Naruto; being together with the blond teenager made Mikasa feel like she had her real family back again. It was really crazy for Mikasa, but she knew that if Naruto stayed with her, she would have devoted her entire life to him. The girl had often thought about _what _she really felt for Naruto? Was it affection, passion, dependence, or love? Mikasa didn't know, she didn't need to know…all she needed was for him to be with her and stay with her…but she knew that may be impossible.

Mikasa had found an outlet for her grief, and that was to focus on protecting what was left for her family. She still had her mother, and two little brothers that tend to run into trouble all the time. If Eren and Armin wanted to join the military, Mikasa would make sure she was there to protect both of them from harm; just like when there were children.

"We're here…" muttered Armin as he looked up at the entrance of the training camp.

Eren was extremely excited to finally begin his dream of joining the Scouting Legion, so he ushering the other two to walk faster as they made their way into the camp. There was already a large crowd in the main open area of the camp, and everyone was wearing a training uniform. There were official guards along the perimeters of the main area, and they were all stoically looking at the crowd in case of any sudden problems…

"Wow…there is a lot of people", mumbled Armin as he looked around.

Eren nodded. "I guess after the fall of Wall Maria, more and more people want to join the military…"

All the while, Mikasa was looking around the area for one peculiar color of hair, and she found nothing. There were a few blondes in the crowd, but none of them had the same shade of hair she grew used to seeing every morning when she woke up. The girl had a lingering hope that Naruto had survived the battle and would join the military like they were doing, but it seemed that it had been a false hope…

"OKAY YOU LOT, GATHER ROUND THE CENTER IN A FIFTEEN COLUMES!" cried a soldier loudly as everyone scrambled to be organized.

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were standing right next to each other as they faced the direction of the main building in the camp. Several men emerged from within the dark doors and made their way over to them slowly. There was one man in the middle who seemed to be in charge of them, and he was bald, with a wheatish complexion and had wrinkles on his forehead. His most notable features were dark circles around his eyes which seemed imposing and frightening…

"YOU ARE ALL NOW OFFICIALLY MEMBERS OF TRAINING UNIT 104!" cried the man loudly with clear authority, "AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, I, KEITH SHADIS WILL BE IN CHARGE OF YOU FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS!"

The instructor continued on his loud and blatant display of orientation, but Mikasa didn't have the patience to pay him any attention. The girl's mind closed itself around her own private surroundings, and let her thoughts guide her through her consciousness. Her hand gently reached up to grasp the green crystal hanging loosely around her neck, and instantly felt more at ease. Her midnight back hair hid her lowered eyes from the instructor as she looked down at her most precious possession, and admired its beauty like she would always do…

…but for a second it seemed to have illuminated a soft glow.

Mikasa's eyes widened when it glowed again…

_'What is this…this has never happened before?' _

The soft green light didn't appeal to anyone else in the blazing sunlight, but it was obvious inside the dark grasp of her hand. The light felt oddly serene in Mikasa's hand, and she felt some sort of energy flow into her being as she continued to hold it. The necklace seemed to be responding to something around it, as it was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second…

Mikasa looked up and instantly caught sight of a shade of blond hair…

In the blazing sun, the face of the person walking up to the instructor wasn't clear, but his hair was very familiar; a shade that Mikasa would dream of every night. But the person's face become more and more clear as he walked to the platform, and soon, his bright blue eyes could be seen…

Mikasa's breathing hitched as she almost pinched herself to see if she was dreaming like so many times before…but it was all real.

"THIS IS MY ASSISTANT AND YOUR SUPERIOR FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS, NAMIKAZE NARUTO!"

Eren's eyes widened at the sight as he struggled to maintain his posture, _'N-Naruto-san?'_

Armin almost stepped back a little at the sight. _'He's still alive!'_

Mikasa felt her own body froze where she stood as hot tears automatically welled up in her eyes. She saw Naruto's warm blue eyes look straight at her as he stood on the platform next to the instructor, and an enormous rush of relief coursed through Mikasa's entire being. From where she was, Mikasa could see that Naruto was shocked to see her as well, and his eyes never once pulled away from her since he first appeared.

The world around the two disappeared as they both stared into each other's eyes…

Some of the other trainees started to take notice, and Shadis definitely notice, but Naruto couldn't care less. He had been trying to find Mikasa for the past few months after losing contact with her after he left the hospital, and the sight of her being safe and sound was a huge load off his mind. It seemed that in their few months apart they both had grown quite a bit…Mikasa was already a beautiful young lady. Naruto felt a smile come onto his face as he looked down at the girl wearing his mother's necklace…he was happy to have her back in his life again.

"I finally found you…" whispered Mikasa and Naruto at the same time under their breaths.

* * *

The End!

That was the fifth installment of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked it.

The next few chapters will be about the training of the unit 104 trainees, the blossom of Naruto and Mikasa's relationship, and the start of Naruto and Annie's relationship. I am excited to write about Annie since I already have made plans for her…

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! XD**


	6. Song

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 6**

* * *

_'Mikasa-chan…' _Naruto thought with a small smile on his face as he stared at the girl just a few meters away from him. The military looked very good on Mikasa, and her beautiful black hair complimented her exotic beauty even more. She was still a girl considering her age, but she was already much prettier than many women the prince had seen before, and that included many of the beautiful women his father summoned to join his harem.

A slight glow of emerald from Mikasa caught Naruto's attention, and as he focused more on it, he figured that it was coming from his mother's necklace. It was very odd for the blond to see the necklace glowing; Mikasa's back was facing the sun so it couldn't have been a reflection, and from the looks of it, it was quite bright as it reached all the way to his eyes in broad daylight.

_'There is something coming from that light…' _thought Naruto silently to himself as he tightened his fist together.

Ever since Naruto had woken up in the hospital after his fight in Wall Maria, he had been occasional bursts of peculiar energy from deep within his body, and the necklace was giving him a similar sensation. It did not hurt or feel uncomfortable, instead it felt very good. During those bursts, his entire body would warm up to a certain degree and his muscles would feel several times stronger than normal. Naruto had yet to test his theories about his new-found dilemma, but was planning to incorporate it into his new training regimen.

After another half hour of Shadis "breaking the ice" with the trainees, a highly anticipated dismiss was announced by the main instructor of the group…

"Each of you has already been assigned a number, and it will follow you for the next three years of your lives!" cried Shadis as he walked up to the very edge of the platform. "It dictates where you all will sleep and determine orders of certain training exercises, so always remember your number!" The instructor gestured to the several guards along the sides of the open area. "Follow the closest superior to your side to your quarters…dismissed!"

The hundreds of new trainees immediately started to file out of the area with their closest superior, but there were three of them who remained motionless. Shadis had an idea that they knew his assistant prior to today based on how they were all staring at him when he walked out, so he decided to ignore it…

"Don't take too long, Naruto…I still need to discuss tomorrow's lesson plan with you", said the bald man with a low tone.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "I know…I'll meet you back at the instructor's lounge later, Shadis-senpai."

The second Shadis turned his back Naruto jumped off of the platform and ran over to the three kids he experienced a lot with. Mikasa was the first one to react and immediately ran towards her savior as fast as she could, and she jumped into his arms as soon as she was close enough.

"Naruto!" exclaimed the girl with tears in her eyes as she buried her face into Naruto's chest.

The prince wrapped his arms tightly around the girl and kissed the top of her head; absentmindedly taking notice of her sweet delicate scent. Naruto knew that the kids were in no trouble and would not be in any serious danger, but he was still worried about them in their few months apart, and he really missed having Mikasa with him. Seeing the girl slowing come out of her shell was very enjoyable for Naruto during the week together; he just hoped that she hadn't reverted back to being stoic in front of others.

"I missed you, Mikasa-chan…" whispered Naruto against the girl's hair.

Mikasa was still lightly sobbing into Naruto's shirt, but was mainly basking in the much needed relief that was coursing through her body. Everything had finally been confirmed; Naruto hadn't been killed in Wall Maria and was alive and well in front of them. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist to make sure that he was real and wasn't going to disappear…

"Naruto-san!" exclaimed an ecstatic Eren as he ran up to the older teenager. "You're still alive!"

Armin was right next to his best friend and was smiling just as brightly. "We all thought you died…"

Naruto gave a sad smile and patted them on their shoulder. "I'm so sorry for leaving without telling any of your where I was going…I really didn't want any of you to be caught up in that mess."

"So you really went to fight with the refugees?" asked Eren with a serious tone.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah…it was not a pretty sight, and I was lucky to get out of there alive…"

"W-We all thought you were dead…" lightly whispered Mikasa with her voice muffled as she was still pressing her face against Naruto's chest. "Why didn't you come back to us?"

The prince frowned and kissed Mikasa on the head again. "I tried to come find you guys the day I was out of the hospital, but when I went back to the food storage the guards said that all the refugees had been organized to live in certain areas in Wall Rose…I spent that last few months looking for you guys, but I couldn't find any of you."

Armin smiled. "We all live in Trost now…Eren's mother is out of the hospital and can now rest at our new home."

Naruto gave a small smile and nodded. "That's great…"

Eren grinned confidently and held his fist in front of him. "It's awesome that you are one of our instructors now, I didn't know they allowed people so young to teach here!"

"They don't…" Naruto said with a chuckle. "I'm sort of a special case right now…I wanted to join the main force, but I need to at least do this for a few years before they would give me permission."

Armin nodded in understanding. "Well you are still really young, so I guess that makes sense."

The prince nodded at the boys, but then saw a guard standing a fair distance away from them. "Hey…I think that guard has to take you to your lodgings, so how about you guys go with him now and I'll meet up with you later."

Eren smiled and nodded. "Sure, come on Mikasa!"

The girl did not move an inch from her position; instead, she tightened her grip around Naruto's body. After reuniting with Naruto after so many months of worrying about him, Mikasa was not about to let him out of her sight or touch; military school be damned. Naruto smiled and gently rubbed Mikasa's shoulders as he looked back up at the boys.

"I'll take Mikasa to her lodgings myself, so you two go ahead and follow that guard…"

"Okay then, see you both later!" replied a slightly worried Eren as he pulled Armin along toward the same direction. As her younger brother, Eren knew that Naruto was very important to Mikasa, but her severe attachment to him worried him sometimes…Eren knew he could trust Naruto with anything, but nonetheless he was worried for his sister.

As the two boys left the area, Naruto's hands were still gently rubbing Mikasa's upper back as he nuzzled his face against her soft hair. To be honest, Naruto didn't want to part with Mikasa so soon himself, even if it was only for about an hour. There was something about Mikasa that made him want to be close to her, to protect her; he had no idea what it was, but he was kind of happy about it.

"I was scared…" said the sudden voice of Mikasa as Naruto was knocked out of his stupor. "I was scared that I would never see you again…"

"I'm so sorry…" whispered the prince softly as he tightened his grasp around the girl. "I wanted to tell you that I was going to fight, but I knew you would try everything to stop me, or even come with me, so I had to sneak away…"

"You're very important to me…" whispered Mikasa as she gently adjusted her cheek against Naruto's chest. "…and I don't want to be left in the dark again." Mikasa pulled away a little and looked up at the young man. "Bring me with you next time…because I will be strong too."

Naruto nodded as she stared into the girl's obsidian black orbs. "Okay…"

Mikasa leaned back in and rested her head into the crook of Naruto's neck. "Thank you…"

The blond ran his hands through Mikasa's black hair until he reached the back of her neck; his fingers traced her smooth skin as his warm palm caressed her tenderly. The prince kissed Mikasa repeatedly on the top of her head and relaxed himself while listening to her steady breathing.

"The necklace looks great on you…" whispered Naruto with a smile on his face. Mikasa didn't reply, but responded by tightening her hold around Naruto's waist. The prince knew that he should bring Mikasa to the female barracks soon, but he didn't want to move away from such a comfortable and warm position. After another few seconds on contemplating, Naruto decided to just let himself enjoy the moment…settling down in the barracks can wait.

Though neither of them realized that the green crystal on the necklace had been pulsating brightly within their hug…

* * *

"Is this it?" asked Eren as he looked around the area.

Armin nodded as he looked up at the sigh on the building. "Yeah…this should be it."

After settling down in their lodgings, the new trainees were told to gather in the several main dining buildings in the camp for some food, and the two young teenagers were happy to oblige. The condition of their rooms were not was clean for as cozy as their home back in Trost, but it was better than what they had imagined, and much better than what Eren's mother assumed.

Each room comfortably fitted four males into two bunk beds, and had plenty of room for their belongings. Eren and Armin decided to share a room by default and they were paired with two other young men. One of them was Connie Springer, a young man from a village in Wall Rose, and Marco Bodt, a young man from Trost. They were both pretty polite, so Eren and Armin didn't mind having them under the same roof every night.

"Eren, Armin…" spoke a familiar voice from behind them, and the two boys looked back to see Mikasa walking towards them. The girl was dressed in her casual clothing now, as were everyone else. She had on a white dress shirt and a simple pair of light brown pants. Eren and Armin could already tell that Mikasa appeared much more relaxed and carefree than just this morning, and they could safely assume that it was because of Naruto.

The girl had also finished up with unloading her belongs in her room, and was planning to meet up with Eren and Armin. She was a bit late to her room because she and Naruto spent another half hour just hugging, but nothing bad came out of it.

"Hey Mikasa, let's go inside and get some food", said Eren with a smile as he led the way inside.

The small building was already quite packed with new trainees, and there was a line in front of the cafeteria. Coincidentally, Eren saw Connie and Marco lined up at the back of the line, so he walked up to greet them.

"Hey guys…" spoke Eren as the other two turned back to see him.

"Hey Eren, you guys are hungry too, huh?" asked Connie with a smile as he and Marco turned back to see the group.

Armin nodded. "Yeah, it's been a long day…" Connie and Marco noticed the pretty girl standing behind Eren and Armin, and the latter decided to do a proper introduction. "Oh right…this is Mikasa, Eren's sister."

Mikasa nodded at the two. "Hello…"

Marco blushed a little and nodded. "Hello there Mikasa-san, I'm Marco Bodt."

"And I'm Connie Springer, nice to meet you!"

"Likewise…" replied Mikasa as the all moved forward in the line.

The food they had for the trainees weren't as bad as they thought; it didn't taste very good, but they had very big portions and guaranteed a full stomach. The group of four made their way to an empty table and sat down with their trays in their hands. There was an oil-lamp in the middle of the table to light up the dark area, and it created an odd ambiance considering they were in military school.

More and more people filed into the place and the group saw some familiar faces. There were a few people near the door that stood right next to Eren and Armin in the morning. Eren still remembered that the tall young man was the one who talked about wanting to live in the inner walls, and a couple of guys who were rather silent the whole way through…

"Can we join you guys; there are no other tables around?" asked a blonde girl with a few other girls behind her.

Armin smiled and nodded, "Sure, the more the merrier."

The girl smiled and sat down along with few others. "Thank you, I'm Krista Renz, it's nice to meet you all!"

"I'm Ymir…"

"Hello!" chirped a happy girl as she wolfed down her food. "I'm Sasha Braus!"

Eren smiled and nodded to each of them. "It's nice to meet you all…I'm Eren Jäger, this is Mikasa Ackerman, and this is Armin Arlert."

Connie finished his dinner and leaned back against his seat with his arms behind his head. "So, where are you guys from originally?!"

The table conversed about origins for a few minutes, but everyone was silent when it was Eren's turn to speak…

"We're all from Shiganshina…"

Connie gulped before he leaned forward towards his roommate. "So…you guys where there on _that _day?" Marco nudged Connie on his side for his insensitive question, but Eren waved them off.

"Yeah, we were all there…it's not something we will ever forget." Mikasa and Armin nodded at his words, they will never forget that particular day.

"So you really saw the Colossal Titan?!" exclaimed Krista in fascination.

Eren nodded. "Yeah…it was really gigantic; it looked right over the 50 meter wall and kicked opened the gate by itself." The boy's tone was flat and stoic, but his eyes suggested anger. Eren was still livid about the Titans that attacked humanity that day, and even though his mother survived, he vowed to avenge everyone who fell to the monsters.

"You guys were really lucky to have survived that…" muttered Marco with a shocked voice.

Armin nodded. "Yeah…"

Eren smiled and looked over at Mikasa. "We would have died that day if it wasn't for Naruto-san…" said the young man as the people at the table looked shocked. "He was the one who saved all of us from the Titans…" Mikasa nodded with a small smile on her face.

Sasha was chewing on her bread as she leaned in. "You mean our assistant instructor?" asked the girl surprised.

Mikasa nodded. "Yes…"

"Come on, that guy didn't look much older than us…" said Connie as he chew off of his bread. "I was really surprised when I saw we have someone so young as a teacher."

Eren smirked. "He's just three years older than we are, but I saw him kill a Titan with my own eyes!" exclaimed the boy as the others looked shocked again. "The military must have seen his strength, or else they wouldn't have hired him to teach us…"

"Wow, he's killed a Titan already?" asked Marco a little shocked. "Most of us don't even know what real Titans look like…"

Eren shuddered a little as he remembered the Titan who almost killed him and his family. "Some of them almost look like humans, but they are all monsters…" The boy would never forget the smile of the Titan's face as it reached down for them…even when it was dying the smile never faded.

"We can definitely trust Naruto-san as our instructor…he may be young but I know he is strong", said Armin as he finished his food.

"No wonder you guys looked shocked this morning…you all already know him" said Ymir with a smirk on her face. "And I noticed you tearing up when you saw him, Mikasa…is he your boyfriend or something?" asked the girl as she looked over at Mikasa.

Mikasa had a small blush on her face but shook her head. "No…"

"Yeah, it would be weird if Naruto-san became your boyfriend…" said Eren as he crossed his arms. "He's our teacher right now, and-". The young man was silenced when Mikasa shoved a whole bun into his mouth.

"Don't talk when you eat…"

Ymir laughed as ate her own dinner. "You got it bad, girl!"

Mikasa blushed again and just went back to her own dinner. _'Boyfriend…would Naruto want to be my boyfriend?'_

* * *

Naruto walked out of the training camp with his hands in his pockets. The sun was almost completely down, and the large forest surrounding the camp was bathing in a beautiful shade of orange. The prince had just finished with a meeting with their higher-ups of the school, and was assigned to teach certain courses to the trainees; all of which were his specialties.

The Colonel in charge of the school tasked Naruto to teach hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, and help in teaching the 3DMG. The blond was looking forward to seeing what the trainees could do, especially Eren, Armin and Mikasa. The girl did promise him that she would become stronger, and he had great faith in her considering how she took down one of her kidnappers two years ago.

_'The air is so fresh out here…' _thought Naruto to himself as he passed through countless trees in the dark.

Naruto had been in the camp for the last three months, and he enjoyed his nightly walk into the forest. There was one particular spot at the very top of the hill, where he would be able to gaze down at a small lake right next to the school. The prince had stumbled onto it a few months during the day when he was training himself with the 3DMG, and he found that it was much prettier at night.

_"Anata no inai tsukue wo natete"_

_"Kage wo otosu kyou wo mou hitori"_

A soft melodic tune reached Naruto's ears through the soft rustling of the windy night. He had never heard anything like it before, and in his opinion it sounded very good. The prince continued his walk towards his usual spot, and found that the tune was actually getting closer and closer. His blue eyes looked around the trees, trying to find the person singing to beautifully, but he still wasn't close enough.

_"Hoshizora miage inori wo kakete"_

_"Anata wa onaji ima sora no shita"_

The voice was beautiful…it was smooth, sweet, and at peace. Naruto found himself enchanted by the melody and the lyrics, and his legs were moving faster to see who was singing. From where the prince was, he could tell that the voice was coming from the top of the hill; the very place he had spent the past few months.

_"Namida kodayafurueru toki no"_

_"Yami ni kujikesou na toki demo"_

_"Wasurenaide"_

_"Kaeru bashou ga"_

_"Kaeru bashou ga aru kara"_

At long last, Naruto finally caught sight of the girl sitting on top of the hill. She was beautiful. Her light blonde hair was tied into a short ponytail as she sat elegantly on a solid rock on top of the hill. She was apparently a trainee as she was wearing one of their uniforms, but it was the first time Naruto had ever seen her.

The girl was resting her head on her hand as she stared out into the night. Her eyes were unfocused and distant as she looked on into the vastness of the world, and her rosy lips were moving ever so slightly as her beautiful voice sounded out gallantly through the night. All of her beauty was further enhanced as the white glow of the moon glazed over her…

_"Matteiru hito ga iru kara"_

The song ended. The whole area was silent as Naruto stood by a tree and looked up at the beautiful girl. The prince was completely enchanted by the girl's voice. She had so much pain, sorrow, and longing in her words; it truly brought out the beauty of the song. Naruto's eyes were locked onto her flowing blonde blowing in the wind as she sat silently at the top…

A gust of cold wind blew at the girl, and she turned a little to avoid the sheer cold, but she also caught sight of Naruto just a few feet away from her. She looked right into Naruto's eyes as she stood up. The girl was surprised; she had widened eyes and just the slightest tint of red on her cheeks, but that could be because of the cold.

"Who are you?" asked the girl firmly with a completely different register than in her song.

Naruto felt a little ashamed for spying on the girl and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry to sneak up like this…but I heard you singing and I couldn't help it."

The girl placed her hands in her pockets and walked down from the top of the hill. "You're our assistant instructor right?" asked the girl after getting a better look on Naruto. "I'm sorry about leaving the camp; I'll head back right now."

Just as the girl walked passed him Naruto turned around. "Wait!"

The girl stopped and looked back at Naruto through the corner of her eyes. "Yes?"

"What is your name?" asked the prince softly as a soft breeze brushed through them.

"Annie Leonhart…" With that, the girl walked away and disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto remained motionless in the middle of the slanted hill as his eyes stared into the distance where the girl vanished. There was something very special about the girl; Naruto could feel it in his heart. The feeling he got from her was not like what he got from Mikasa…it was different, but just as peculiar.

_'Annie Leonhart…'_

* * *

The End!

That was the sixth chapter of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked it. It really was just a filler chapter that I used to introduce Annie to Naruto.

The song Annie sang is called "Song of the Road". It is an ost from Fairy Tail, Mirajane sang it to the guild when Natsu and his team came back from the Tower of Heaven.

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! (I REALLY WANT MORE REVIEWS, PLEASE!)**


	7. Prodigy

I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

**Royal Redemption - Chapter 7 **

* * *

The sound of a flare gun being fired blasted through the training ground as another trainee finished the simulated battle-zone. The result of that particular trainee was one of the better ones out of the hundreds of potential soldiers, but it was still not up to standard. It was only natural that more trainees scored lower than the previous year's standard since many of them were a few years younger than normal.

This year had the most trainees under the age of sixteen since the establishment of the military, so strange results was to be expected. Strangely though, most of the top students of the large group were under the age of sixteen. The standard time for passing through the simulated battle-zone was fifteen minutes, and five new trainees had already showed above-average performance.

"Good run, Ackerman, as good as usual!" saluted Shadis with a nod of the head; he had more respect for the top student of the year.

Naruto, who was standing next to his superior, smiled at the girl as she walked passed him. Mikasa was currently the top ranked student out of the hundreds of trainees in the camp, and there was quite a gap between her and Reiner Braun, the second ranked student.

"Good job, Ackerman…" said Naruto with a discreet wink to his friend.

Mikasa blushed a little at the praise and nodded. "Thank you, Naruto-sensei…" The girl, along with Eren and Armin, had all made an agreement with Naruto to not act overly familiar with him during classes. The last thing Naruto wanted was for his other students accusing him of being bias to his personal favorites…even though Mikasa was really his favorite student.

Shadis looked down at his list and sighed a little. "The results are getting better, but are still nowhere near where we want it to be."

"What do you think the problem is, Senpai?" Naruto asked with genuine concern; he didn't want to have the weakest soldiers at the most dire of times.

The main instructor shook his head. "It's just the trainees…some of them are naturally talented while others are not; the only ways to improve these grades are with constant repetition and self-improvement."

Naruto sighed and nodded. "I see…"

"But there is something we can try…" muttered Shadis as he looked down at his young assistant.

"Sir?" inquired Naruto a little lost.

"Everyone, gather over here!" cried the booming voice of the main instructor as the huge crowd of trainees gathered over to their direction.

Naruto stood next to his superior as he looked down at all the trainees looking up at them. He saw Eren and Armin talking with Mikasa and a few others as they waited for everyone else to gather round. It seemed that the three kids he took care of had made many friends of their own inside the group of trainees, and one of them appeared to be the same girl Naruto saw up on the hill a few weeks ago.

Annie Leonhart was ranked fourth in the entire camp, and was one of the most talented trainees of the year. She always had a bored expression on her face and talk with a stoic voice, which was completely different from the angelic tone she used when she was singing. Since she intrigued Naruto so much, he had tried approaching her in order to get to know her better, but the girl seemed to be avoiding him on purpose…

"You all have been getting better at using you 3DMG, but the results are still not good enough!" announced the strict sergeant as he glared down at the large group. "Some of you may still be figuring out different ways of maneuvering your body while in mid-air because you've never seen how a 3DMG is used by a true expert, so we are going to show you today!"

Some murmuring could be heard in the crowd as Naruto saw some nods. _'I guess seeing someone else do it would be helpful…but how would they see it, a real expert would zip through the forest in a few minutes at most?'_

"Naruto…" spoke Shadis with a more polite voice. "You're up!"

Naruto was surprised as many people started to buzz in excitement; after hearing tales from Eren, many people wanted to see how the prodigy was said to be the most talented soldier of the century…

"Me…I'm the expert you were talking about?"

Shadis smirked and nodded. "Yes…based on the review I got from Captain Levi, something like this should be child's play for you." Naruto bit his lip and kept on listening. "Besides, I've never seen you in action before, so this will also be my personal assessment for you."

The blond ran a hand through his hair and shrugged, "Whatever…at least this will help them."

Down in the crowd, Eren had a bright smile on his face as he excitedly looked up at the scene. He had seen Naruto's skills first hand when he saved him and his family from the Titans, and he wanted to see how fast Naruto could make it through the forest. Armin, who was standing next to Eren, was also very excited; he had only heard about Naruto's skills from Eren and Mikasa, but he also knew that he was able to survive his fight for Wall Maria, so he really wanted to know how strong Naruto really was.

"How fast do you guys think Naruto-sensei will go?" asked a curious Marco was he whispered over to his friends.

Connie crossed his arms in thought. "He's supposed to be a genius right?"

Sasha nodded as she stood next to Ymir and Krista. "Yeah, I heard from some guys talking in the kitchen that Naruto-sensei was recommended to his post by Commander Erwin Smith of the Scouting Legion, if someone like that trusts his skills, I think he will just plow right through this!"

"So what does that mean…like ten minutes?" asked Reiner with his arms crossed; Bertholdt, who was standing next to his best friend, nodded in agreement.

"I have no idea, I mean Mikasa is already very fast, and she did it in fourteen minutes, so I'm thinking maybe twelve minutes?" suggested Jean Kirschtein, one of the top students of the year, ranked sixth overall.

Armin bit his lips in thought. "I think ten minutes sounds right…the average is fifteen minutes, and more than five minutes early will be crazy."

"I don't know; Naruto-sensei had always been unpredictable…" said Eren with a grin.

"Five minutes…" said a sudden and piercing voice that cut through everyone else's at once. "Naruto-sensei will be done in five minutes." Everyone looked over to see Mikasa looking up at Naruto with her usual stoic face, and the look in her eyes suggested that she was completely serious.

"Five minutes!" cried Jean. "Are you serious, Mikasa, that's ten minutes above average?!"

Mikasa didn't answer, and just continued to look up at Naruto…

Off to the side, Annie heard what Mikasa said and looked up at Naruto with narrowed eyes. The girl had been a little wary of Naruto since he caught her singing up on the hill, and she wanted to see if he really was as talented as other people claimed…

"Are you ready, Naruto?" asked Shadis as he walked up to his assistant.

"Yes, I'm ready!" responded Naruto with his gear all strapped up.

"Then go ahead…" With that, the main instructor walked off towards the edge of the heightened platform and sat down on his chair with a small grin on his face.

Naruto chuckled softly as he jumped off of the platform and got to the front of the forest. All the trainees were silent as they watched their teacher prepare to head into the forest. One of the admin was holding onto a gun, and he pointed it up into the air…

"START!" cried the admin as he fired the gun.

Naruto hands instantly initiated the 3DMG and shot his cables to two trees fifty feet away. All the trainees stepped back a little as the gas from Naruto's tank blasted him off in high speeds. The prince's vision was almost instantly filled with trees and leaves. With his muscle memory, his fingers reacted instantly to the change of landscape, so his cables were shooting from one tree to another very naturally.

The blond's body zipped through the first part of the forest effortlessly as his eyes scanned the area for mock Titans. Doing such a menial exercise gave Naruto a deep sense of nostalgia; he had done very similar training back when he was training with Dallis in the palace, and it reminded him of how hard it was back then. It was amusing to think about really…something that Naruto thought to be near impossible five years ago would be so dirt easy now.

After another few seconds, the first few mock Titans appeared in Naruto's eyes…

_'Found you…' _Naruto mused in his mind as he targeted the Titan furthest away from his position. The three Titans were in front of Naruto in almost a straight line, so Naruto attached himself to the last one and used it to strategically coordinate himself accordingly through the area.

The sound of his gas shooting out from its container filled his ears as he shot towards his targets at high speeds. Finally unsheathing his blades from his sides, Naruto responded through pure muscle memory again, and beautifully removed the nape of the Titans' necks in a sequential order. The blond used the last Titan's head as a springboard, and kicked himself higher into the air.

Recently, Naruto had noticed that his instinct have been getting a lot better than before; it was almost as if he could sense where everything was around him. Even now, if he closed his eyes, he could see the entire forest from his sixth sense, and could figure out where everything was around him. Since he was just going through a mock assignment, Naruto decided to test his instincts out…

Naruto sped towards the other end of the forest with a zigzag fashion because it was where his senses were telling him to do. He could feel some sort of disturbance in specific areas of the forest; as if something heavy was sitting upon a certain spot, and Naruto assumed that it was where his targets were located.

"What do you know…" muttered the prince as he found himself facing three more mock Titans.

With delicate twisting of his body in mid-air, Naruto easily sliced through all of them with his skilled flicks of his blades. As the rushed to the next part of the forest, Naruto couldn't help but scoff at the pathetic mock Titans. After seeing the real thing, Naruto realized that the fake ones do them no justice. The cut-outs only displayed the size of the Titans, but do nothing to suggest their crude smell, overwhelming heat, lifeless eyes, and mountainous presence, and that made everything much easier for him…

"This is ridiculous…how are the trainees doing so back with this?" muttered Naruto to himself as he slashed through another few targets.

The prince didn't know if they had changed the material the used for the nape of the Titans' necks, but it felt much softer than it did from when he was training with Dallis. But it could also be a sign that suggested Naruto's own physical strength had gotten a lot stronger since a few years ago, which would ne natural, but Naruto himself had been noticing some changes recently. Ever since he got out of the hospital he had been getting many strange perks in his abilities, and the extremely improvement in his physical strength was one of them.

"Take this!" cried out Naruto with a grin on his face as his blade almost cut through the mock Titan's whole neck.

Naruto looked ahead and saw that he was already at the end of the forest, so with a smirk on his face, he blasted out of the tree line. The soldier in charge of shooting the flare gun when Naruto arrived looked at him with widened eyes, and shakily pointed his gun up into the air. The loud bang of the gun being fire made Naruto cringe a little, but the smile on his face was still there…

""FOUR MINUTES AND FIFTY SECONDS!" cried the admin holding onto the starting gun as he saw the green flare in the sky.

"H-Holy shit…" stuttered out Jean with widened eyes. "He really did it in five minutes…"

"I guess they don't call him genius for no reason, huh?" said Sasha as she looked over at Connie, Ymir, and Krista.

Reiner nodded as he stepped forward. "He really has incredible skills…no wonder they allow him to teach at such a young age."

Eren grinned and rested his elbow on Armin's shoulder. "See guys, I told you Naruto-sensei is unpredictable!"

"Yeah, but this is crazy!" exclaimed Armin with widened eyes. "Naruto-sensei is ten minutes above average! I don't think many soldiers who have already served for a few years could do this, even if they're in the Scouting Legion!" The blond boy was looking around as his friends as he spoke. "This is incredible…not only does he have to zip through the forest in time, he also has to find the Titans in there…he must be extremely fast to have done this so quickly."

"Naruto-sensei is strong…" said Mikasa with a small smile on her face as she looked over at the group. "I've seen his reflexes on the 3DMG before, and his skills with it is incredible…it is no wonder that he is able to do this."

Ymir sighed and nodded. "You called it…"

_'So you are quite skilled, Naruto-sensei…' _thought Annie to herself as she walked away from the main group.

Shadis, who was still sitting on the platform, was also shocked at the quick display. The man had trained thousands of soldiers before, and no matter how talented some of them were, they couldn't have finished the whole course in less than five minutes. The man knew that if Naruto had missed some targets inside the forest, the men stations at each mock Titan area would have shot up a black flare, but he saw none of those, so Naruto had really completed the entire course.

_'This kid is truly incredible…no wonder Levi and Erwin would hold such high praise for him; if this continues he might be stronger than Levi in a few years!'_

* * *

Inside the fortitude of Wall Sina, and on top of a natural heightened hill, was the palace of the King. It was the tallest and largest edifice in human possession, and also the most secured place in all of Humanity. Not only was it at the epicenter of the three walls, it also had complete protection by the Military Police and the internal Imperial Legion. The royal family, the most powerful family who had complete control over Humanity, lived within that sanctuary, and most of them were oblivious to the outside world.

In the midst of the large collection of grand buildings, Prince Konohamaru stood next to his Father as they each looked out at their private lake inside the palace. The boy was the second son of the King, and the bearer of the Eagle Medallion. At ten years old, the prince had grown to be a bit of a spoiled brat, unlike his older brother, and had no plan to change anytime soon. Since his birth, the boy had gotten everything he had ever wanted; everyone catered to his every whim, and he thought he already had all the power in the world…

"So how you are your studies going, son?" asked the King with his long white hair blowing through the wind.

The brown haired boy crossed his arms with a pout on his face. "It's very boring…why the hell do I need to study history in the first place?!" The King smiled at his pouting son and just patted him on the head. "I mean…those historical figures are dead already, why would I care about what some dead person did when they were alive?"

The King sighed. "History teaches us the successes and mistakes of our ancestors so that we may learn from them, and allow society to progress…" Konohamaru looked up at his Father with a confused expression and the King just sighed again. "You really aren't anything like your older brother…"

"Oh yeah, where is Onii-sama anyway, I thought his educational trip would only take three years?" asked the boy as he tilted his head to the side.

"Well he still has three months before it is a full three years, so give him time…"said the King as he looked out at his large lake and pondered about his heir.

Unknown to Naruto himself, the King had actually had eyes on him the entire time he was out of the palace, and had been receiving reports about him every week for the past two years and nine months. The King really loved his eldest son and was worried about him facing the world by himself, but so far he had been feeling nothing but pride. His personal spies had been reporting to him Naruto's heroic acts all over the world, and how he managed to reduce the crime rates within Wall Maria by 50%.

The King would always have a peculiar smile on his face as he thought of his first-born…the only child he had with the one woman he had ever truly loved in his entire life.

"Sire…" softy said a guard standing next to the King. "I believe Konohamaru-sama must attend his classes now."

The King nodded as the boy pouted. "Okay…run along son, and actually try to learn something today."

Konohamaru sighed and nodded. "Hai Otou-sama…"

The King chuckled at his watched his little boy stalk off with the guards towards his classes, and wondered what the world would have installed for him. Konohamaru was not anything like the diligent and extremely self-motivated Naruto, and the Father was worried for him. The King strongly believed in self-improvement, and would not deliberately push his children towards one particular direction. Such a way of parenting worked very well with Naruto, but was not going so well with the second son…

_'Maybe I should start guiding him myself…' _pondered the King as he turned around and headed back to his own quarters.

Unknown to his children, the King was actually much more than just a man driven by his carnal desires. Yes, he did have a gigantic harem inside his personal quarters, but a large portion of his personal space was filled with a very large library. The King was actually one of the most educated and wise men in Humanity, and only a collected few knew of it; Dallis Zacklay being one of them.

"Leave me…I will go in alone", said the King as his guards remained silent outside of his personal quarters.

As the white haired man stepped into his library, he was immediately greeted by the beautiful smile of his Queen. There was a fifty by fifty feet portrait of the late-queen hung on the large wall of the King's study, and he would stare up at her every day for at least an hour. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was the love of his life, and the most amazing woman he had ever met.

It was back in his youth, when he was still a prince of his Father's, when he first met his wife. He was walking through the largest library inside Wall Sina, and a beautiful shade of blonde hair caught his eyes. It belonged to a young and beautiful woman sitting by one of the many aisles in the fiction section, and her blue eyes were twinkling in joy as she flipped page after page in her novel.

The King could still remember how he felt the moment he saw her…it was as if time itself had stopped. He recalled standing by the edge of the aisle for at least a half hour, just looking at the woman. The King chuckled as he recalled his young self being oblivious to how creepy and off putting he actually was…even when the woman noticed him.

* * *

_Flashback on_

_"Excuse me, are you alright, Mister?" asked the melodic voice of the blonde woman as she looked into his own brown and enchanted eyes._

_The prince's face flushed as he tried to regain as much pride as he could, and nodded. "Yes…I'm sorry about that."_

_The woman stood up with a smile on her face, and walked over to the white haired young man. "Were you perhaps looking for this book?" asked the woman gesturing to the novel in her hands. "I believe this book is quite sought after in the library, I just found it on the shelf with luck!"_

_The prince, wanting to accept the provided reason, nodded. "Y-Yeah, I was looking for a good novel to read, and I thought I would check if this book was returned."_

_"Well I'm almost finished with it; how about give it to you after?" The seemingly everlasting smile on the woman's face melted the prince's heart completely._

_"Sure…would you mind if I stayed here as you finish reading?"_

_The woman shrugged with a grin on her face. "Sure, this is a public library…" The woman extended her hand to the man in front of her. "I'm Kaguya by the way, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya; it's nice to meet you."_

_The prince happily shook hands with the woman and immediately noticed how soft her hand was. "Nice to meet you Kaguya-san, I'm Jiraiya…" From that moment on, Jiraiya knew he could only love one woman…and that he would do anything to make her his Queen._

_Flashback end_

* * *

King Jiraiya sighed as he sat down on his office chair. "Our son is really growing up, Kaguya-chan…I'm sure you're very proud of him." Jiraiya pulled out an ink pen and a stack of paper. "Soon he'll be stronger than you!" The Queen's smile on the portrait seemed to brighten as the King continued to speak with her. "He hasn't realized his true power yet, but he will…and when he is ready, I can finally pass the throne to him."

Jiraiya spend the next hour writing page after page on his desk; his mind using all of his life experience to inspire the movements of his hand. The King was creating a manual for his son; one that will teach him everything he would need to know as King, and a novel that told the story of his mother…

"One day Naruto will become the savior of our world…just as you said he would be…and I would finally be able to see you again, my love."

* * *

Mikasa had a frown on her face as she saw Eren being thrown to the ground by his sparring partner. Actually, it wasn't his sparring partner, but the girl him and his sparring partner decided to pick on. It seemed that Eren and Reiner wanted to stop Annie from leaving the training grounds on her own, and challenged her to the sparring exercises…and got their asses handed to them.

Mikasa had known that Annie was probably the best hand to hand combatant in the training camp, perhaps even better than herself, and it was the perfect chance to find out. The black haired girl excused herself from Sasha and walked over to where her brother and his friend was getting tossed around like a couple of beany bags.

"Hey Annie, how about a spar?" asked Mikasa with her usual stoic voice and emotionless face.

Many of the surrounding people stopped to look at the situation as Mikasa stood in front of Annie. Eren and Reiner picked themselves up from the ground and quickly jogged off to the side. They both also wanted to see the two most powerful girls in the camp duke it out in combat, and Eren couldn't help but feel a little nervous about it.

Annie was definitely very strong, and Mikasa was a monster like always, but he could figure out who was going to win. The blonde girl gave him a very weird and intimidating feeling as they fought, and he didn't know if Mikasa would be able to beat her like she does many others…

"Why do you people want to fight me?" said Annie with a sigh as she brushed some strands of hair out of her face.

Mikasa crossed her arms. "Because you are strong…"

Annie turned to face Mikasa fully but still had a bored look in her eyes. "So you only want to fight because I'm strong?" asked the girl as she stepped forward herself. "Not because of this training exercise?"

The black haired beauty nodded her head. "Yes…but also because you were throwing my little brother around like a rag-doll." Eren blushed and glared over at Mikasa as she said that; he didn't like to be referred to as her little brother…even though he was fine with it inwardly.

Annie shrugged a little. "Sure…why not."

Mikasa smirked and raised her fists. "Then let's go…"

Eren and Reiner, along with Sasha, and a couple of other people watched the incoming clash with great excitement. It was good that they were at the lower corner of the training field and most of the other trainees didn't notice them; if they knew, all of them would be rushing over and opening betting pools to see who would win…

"Hey, what the hell are you two doing?!" cried the familiar voice of Naruto.

Mikasa and Annie looked over, and saw that Naruto was yelling at a couple of guys dancing around stupidly instead of training. It was Connie, Jean, Marco, and Bertholdt, and they all looked a little nervous as their teacher walked over to them with a glare in his eyes. Wanting to know what Naruto would do to the boys; Mikasa and Annie dropped their fists and looked over at their direction.

"Jean again…" muttered Eren with a smirk on his face. "That's what he gets for slacking off…let's see what Naruto-sensei will do to them!"

Reiner sighed and shook his head. "Why are they slacking off like that?"

"Because this is a pointless exercise…" said Annie without looking away from the scene.

"What do you mean?" asked Mikasa as she stood next to her rival of a sort.

Annie remained silent, and just looked over to see what Naruto would do to the boys…

Jean backed away from Naruto with a nervous look on his face; he was the one who started slacking off in the first place so he was worried about what his punishment would be. Connie, Marco, and Bertholdt were just as nervous, but they remained still as Jean slowly edged back towards them for mental support. Naruto had become a strict teacher in his own classes, and wouldn't withhold punishment if he really wanted to teach someone a lesson, so the boys were quite worried.

"Someone answer me…what were you doing?" asked Naruto with his hands in his pockets.

Jean chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "S-Sparring?"

"Well I sure hope not, from what I saw I thought you were practicing ballet with Connie!" exclaimed Naruto loudly as many people started to laugh at their expense. Jean and Connie recoiled with blushes on their faces as Naruto walked up to Bertholdt and Marco. "I asked the two of you…what were you doing?"

Bertholdt was sweating profusely as Marco decided to fold. "I-I'm sorry Naruto-sensei…but we were just slacking off."

"Slacking off…" muttered Naruto with a smile on his face. "Good man, Marco, at least you are honest." Naruto walked slowly in front of the four young men in silence, and the tension made them become more and more nervous. "If you have time to slack off then you all must be exceptional in hand-to-hand combat…" The prince bent down and picked up the wooden knifes on the ground. "Jean…attack me with this…just as we practiced, you will attack me with the knife, and try to impale me."

"S-Sensei…"

"Now!"

Jean gulped as he held the knife in his hands, and rushed towards the teacher with the best of his ability. He wasn't bad with the knife; he attempted to fake his movements by casting his free hand over his right hand the moment before he lunged out…but it wasn't good enough.

Naruto effortlessly caught Jean's hand and stopped the knife immediately. "This is the result of practice?" The blond pulled Jean by the hand and kicked his legs out, causing him to trip and fall to the ground while releasing the knife. As Jean groaned on the ground, Naruto threw the knife to Connie. "Your turn…and I hope you do better."

Connie was shaking as he stepped up, but knew he had to do it no matter what. With a grunt, the young man burst forward at fast as he could and planned to use his sudden movements to catch Naruto off guard…but it also wasn't good enough.

"Seriously…this is pathetic." Naruto, like he did with Jean, pulled Connie towards him, but instead of kicking his feet out, the prince shoved a hard palm to Connie's face, and made him fall to the ground in a heap. The two remaining boys were extremely nervous for their turns, but prepared themselves to catch the knife. "Let's change things up a little…"

Marco and Bertholdt didn't see it coming at all when Naruto suddenly rushed forward at them with the knife in his hand. The blond jabbed Marco in the stomach with a moderate amount of strength, and kicked him down when he bent over from the pain. Bertholdt tried to back away, but Naruto's legs swept out and tripped him to the ground. Immediately after, the prince pressed his left foot onto Bertholdt's right arm, his right knee onto his left arm and placed the knife at his neck.

"I could have killed the four of you several times over by now…" Naruto got off of Bertholdt and threw to knife to the ground. "The four of you are within the top ten students of the entire camp, so I ask you, with sincere curiosity, how are you all so bad at this?"

The boys remained silent as the shamefully remained on the ground…as everyone else in the class looked over at them.

"Get up…I'll give you each one more chance."

Jean was the one to get back on his feet first, and then it was Connie, then Bertholdt and Marco. They were mostly fine and only felt a little sore from their respective falls, but their ego was bruised badly. They didn't expect Naruto get so angry at them for slacking off in this particular class since it doesn't count for marks.

Naruto stared into each of the boy's eyes as he crossed his arms. "All of you will come attack me all together, and if you manage to beat me, I'll let you off clean."

"A-All of us at once?" asked Marco unsure of what he heard.

"Yes…" answered Naruto with a straight face.

A series of discussions started to arise in the surrounding crowd as the four boys were preparing to fight their instructor. Off to the side, Eren, Armin, and Reiner were all surprised that Naruto would want to fight all four at the same time; no matter how bad they were at fighting, the numbers gave them a huge advantage. Annie was looking over at Naruto with narrowed eyes; wondering what he was up to…

Mikasa stepped forward in interest with her arms crossed. _'All four at once…how long will this take?'_

"Oh my God, why does Naruto-sensei keep doing these crazy thing?!" exclaimed Sasha as she shook her head at the scene.

"I guess he's just that confident…" casually said Ymir with a bored look on her face.

Krista actually looked worried as she looked around at her friends. "Yeah, but he's going to fight four of them at once…isn't that a bit too much?"

Back to the focus of attention, Jean was glaring over at Naruto for trying to embarrass them more than he already had. The young man wondered if the teacher actually thought he could beat all four of them at the same time…

_'Just how full of yourself are you?' _

Connie looked nervous as he discreetly looked over at Bertholdt. "Is he serious?"

The tall man was still sweating as he gulped. "I think so…"

"But isn't four on one a little unfair?" asked Marco nervously.

Naruto sighed and just leaned his weight onto one side. "Come on…you're not scared are you?"

Jean cracked his knuckles and stepped forward. "Come on guys…he told us to fight him together, so let's show him what we can do!" Connie sighed and stepped forward also after realizing that there was no way out of the situation, and the other two followed suit. They were not thrilled to fight their teacher at all, but they were ordered to do so…

"Show me what you got…" taunted Naruto with a smirk.

Jean growled and ran up to Naruto as fast as he could with his fist pulled back. "AARGH!" cried the young man as he swung as hard as he could at the older man.

Naruto stepped to the side to avoid the uncontrolled punch, and caught Jean's wrist as it past his face. While holding his student's arm to the side, Naruto kneed Jean hard to his side, and followed with a swift stomp to behind his knees, which caused him to fall to his knees. The blond held Jean by his head and pulled it straight into his knee…

The other three young men were all staring at the scene in shock as Jean fell to the ground unconscious…

"What are you three waiting for…you already lost one teammate?"

Before the three moved, Naruto rushed over to their position and kicked Connie right in his chest, sending him flying to the ground. The other two were now by his sides, so he quickly spun his body around to land a backhand to Marco's face, and a low kick to Bertholdt's shin. While the two on the sides were stunned, Naruto ran over to the winded Connie and lifted him up by the collar of his jacket.

"Make it two teammates!" The prince then elbowed the young man in his arms and allowed him to fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The others cringed when the saw a huge bruise immediately emerge on Connie's face as he groaned loudly on the ground in pain.

Eren and the others were all shocked at how ruthless Naruto was suddenly being…he was usually very polite and compassionate to his students…

Bertholdt and Marco knew they had to react soon or it would be too late, so they both charged over toward Naruto in two different directions; Bertholdt on the right and Marco on the left. Naruto still had his back facing the two incoming enemies as they prepared to launch their fists at him…

But it seemed that he had predicted it…

Naruto suddenly bent down fully and watched as the two fists fly past above his head. Bertholdt and Marco were both unprepared to miss their confident attack, so the stumbled a little as their head strained to look back at Naruto. The prince's blue eyes stared unceremoniously into the two boy's widened eyes as he released himself by kicking his feet out.

The blond was extremely fast and explosive, and he jumped into the air as he pulled his legs back. He spun his body in mid-air until he was looking down at the ground, and kicked both his legs out to strike the two young men on the back of their heads. The teacher landed on the ground in a swatting as the two boys did a full flip forward and lay on the ground barely conscious.

The entire field was silent as everyone stared at their teacher with some fear in their eyes; no one had expected him to beat up the four so badly. Eren and Armin were shaking a little from where they stood; never had they ever seen Naruto's eyes appear to ruthless and cruel…

"A-Are they okay?" stuttered out Krista as she nudged Ymir.

"I hope so…" replied Ymir with a soft voice.

Reiner was seriously worried for his best friend, Bertholdt and wanted to run over to check. "Damn…that was way too brutal!" The young man was rather angry at the teacher; yes they were slacking off but they didn't deserve such a beating.

Mikasa was also surprised at how ruthless Naruto had been, and looked through the corner of her eyes to see Annie actually nodding a little at the scene…

_'What is she nodding about?'_

"Eren, Mikasa, Reiner, Sasha!" cried out Naruto loudly. "Come here and round them up!"

The four immediately ran over to the fallen trainees and checked to see if they were okay. Reiner headed over to Bertholdt, Mikasa went over to Marco, Sasha went over to Connie, and Eren over to Jean. All of them were barely conscious after the attacks from Naruto, or had just woken up in Jean's case. There may be some concussions or broken jaws, but they were fine overall…

"I know damn well why four of the top ten students would do so badly in this class…" started Naruto as he gained the undivided attention of his students. "The grade of this class does not go towards your main score as a soldier, so even if you fail this class you would still be in the top ten…" Everyone remained silent and most of them agreed to his logic. "But that only tells me one thing…"

Naruto walked forward to the four beaten up students and pulled Jean up by his collar…

"…and that is you are all only training so hard to join the Military Police, not to better your own skills as a soldier!" The teacher shoved Jean back down into Eren's arms and ignored his groan of pain. He then walked to the next person and yanked up Bertholdt from Reiner. "I can't be the only one who sees the contradiction in the curriculum of this camp!" Naruto released Bertholdt and pulled both Connie and Marco up at the same time, "The contradiction is how the ten students who have the most skill in killing Titans would be sent to the place furthest away from any Titans!"

Mikasa, Eren, along with many people's eyes widened in recognition…

"And your slacking off today had showed me that you are all cowards who became soldiers to stay away from the Titans…so much for swear your lives to the King!" Naruto turned away and walked back to look at the rest of his students. "I don't care if you are a coward, I don't care if you want to live a peaceful life…but as long as you are in this camp training to become a soldier, I expect you to keep our main principle in mind and better yourselves as much as possible."

_'Freeing mankind from the fear of the Titans…that's the main principle of the school', _thought Eren as he looked up at his teacher in a new light.

"I am not forcing any of you to join the Scouting Legion and fight the Titans…but nonetheless I expect all of you, while you are in this school, to do your best in every class!" Naruto turned back and pointed a finger at the four injured students. "Let today be an example for all of you…if I see anyone who slacks off in this class again…I will beat you to a pulp so you will fail your other classes that actually count for marks." Naruto did a slow 360 degree turn and looked into each of his student's eyes. "AM I CLEAR?!"

"HAI, NARUTO-SENSEI!" replied everyone in unison.

Naruto nodded. "Good…now get your asses back to work!" The instant those words left his mouth, everyone hurried to their partners and fumbled with their wooden knifes. They all made sure to do the actions correctly so that they don't infuriate their teacher again.

Eren smiled at his surrogate older brother as he held Jean from the ground. _'Talk alone is cheap…and Naruto-sensei's actions really brought the point across'. _

"Bring these guys to the infirmary…" ordered Naruto using his usual polite tone.

Eren and the others nodded, "Hai!"

As she lifted Marco onto her back, Mikasa looked over at Naruto and gave him a small smile; showing that she was impressed with what he did. The blond discreetly winked over at her as a small smile graced the corner of his mouth…

"That certainly got the point across…" said a voice behind Naruto as Mikasa and the others left for the infirmary.

Naruto looked back and was surprised to see Annie talking to him. She had her usual bored expression on her face with her hands in her pockets, but he could faintly see some praise in her blue eyes. Something told Naruto that Annie was also aware of the contradiction in the program, and it was why she didn't try as hard in this class compared to the others. Naruto had noticed that outside of Eren, Reiner, and Mikasa, most of the top ten students never really tried in his class. He picked the four males to beat up since he didn't want to brutally hurt the girls…that would be unseemly of his royal stature.

"Yes…so now will you stop skipping my class every day?"

Annie had the tiniest of smirks on the corner of her mouth as she turned around. "Yes…" With that, she started to walk away, hoping to find Mikasa before the class ended.

"Leonhart…" said Naruto.

"What is it?" asked Annie as she turned back to look at the teacher through the corner of her eyes.

Naruto had a small smile on his face as he looked at the girl. "Feel free to go back to the top of the hill again…from now on I will only go there every other day, so please enjoy the scenery tonight, and I'll go tomorrow."

Annie had an emotion in her eyes that Naruto couldn't read at first, but then she gave him a curt nod of the head.

"Okay…"

As Naruto watched the girl walk off into the distance, he couldn't help but ponder the emotion she showed him…

_'Was she…relieved?'_

* * *

The End!

That was a very informative chapter, and I hope you all liked it! :)

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! (PLEASE, IT WAS A VERY FAST UPDATE!) XD**


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